SEPTEMBER 17 — In the European Union (EU), three of 27 member States are federations — Germany, Belgium and Austria.
Germany has been a study on federation since at least 1949.
So, if you think that Germany is a union of partners of what was West Germany and what was East Germany, then you are not entirely correct.
West Germany was Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), a democratic, capitalist nation aligned with the West since 1949.
East Germany was the German Democratic Republic (GDR), a socialist dictatorship aligned with the Soviet Union during the Cold War (1945 – 1991). The peaceful revolution in 1989 played a key role in bringing down the GDR and enabling west and east Germany to reunify.
Since the reunification vide the Unification Treaty of 1990 of August 31, 1990, Germany has consisted of 16 constituent states — the Länder, which is the German plural noun for countries, lands, or states (singular: Land) — with five new states joining the FRG.
The five new states were formerly five territories that formed the GDR.
So, Germany is a federation.
The federation has a written constitution known as the Basic Law.
The Basic Law was adopted in 1949, initially as a provisional framework for the basic organisation of the state. The name “Basic Law” was intended to express its provisional character and that it was not to hinder reunification. But from the very beginning, the Basic Law has always contained all the features of a constitution and has functioned effectively as one for more than 75 years, according to Germany’s constitutional framework.
In the Unification Treaty, the governments of the FRG and the GDR agreed to restore German unity in accordance with Article 23 of Basic Law.
The parliaments of both German states approved the decision with two-thirds majorities as required under Article 144.
The preamble to the Basic Law, which was amended after the Unification Treaty, reflects the agreement to restore German unity. It states that the “Germans [in the 16 Länder] have achieved the unity and freedom of Germany in free self-determination. This Basic Law thus applies to the entire German people.”
In other words, the Basic Law was adopted and acceded to by the five new states joining the FRG.
The Basic Law declares, among others, the followings:
The supremacy of the Basic Law, which is declared vide Article 20(3), stating that “[t]he legislature shall be bound by the constitutional order, the executive and the judiciary by law and justice”. Article 20 is considered as one of two “eternity clauses” in the Basic Law as Article 79(3) protects the two clauses from being amended. The other is Article 1 which declares that human dignity “shall be inviolable” and that the German people “acknowledge inviolable and inalienable human rights as the basis of every community, of peace and of justice in the world”.
The supremacy of federal law, which is declared vide Article 31, stating that “[f]ederal law shall take precedence over Land law”.
The division of powers between the Federation and the Länder, which is declared vide Article 70, stating that the Länder shall have the right to legislate insofar as the Basic Law does not confer legislative power on the Federation, and that the division of authority between the Federation and the Länder shall be governed by the provisions of the Basic Law concerning exclusive and concurrent legislative powers.
On matters within the exclusive legislative power of the Federation, Article 71 declares that the Länder shall have power to legislate only when and to the extent that they are expressly authorised to do so by a federal law. Matters under exclusive legislative power of the Federation are set out in Article 73.
On matters within the concurrent legislative power, Article 72 provides that the Länder shall have power to legislate so long as and to the extent that the Federation has not exercised its legislative power by enacting a law. Matters under concurrent legislative powers are set out in Article 74.
Transitional and concluding provisions are set out in Part XI, which declares the continued applicability of (a) pre existing law (Article 123); (b) law within the scope of exclusive legislative power (Article 124); and (c) law within the scope of concurrent legislative power (Article 125).
In the above, we can find parallels in Malaysia, starting with its formation.
Malaysia, like Germany, is a federation established by the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
MA63, like the Unification Treaty, is an international treaty.
Each treaty can be read here: https://treaties.un.org/doc/publication/unts/volume%20750/volume-750-i-10760-english.pdf and here: https://www.dipublico.org/100648/frg-gdr-treaty-on-the-establishment-of-german-unity-unification-treaty/
** This is the personal opinion of the writers or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
