As early as 1965, the German Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the Basic Law obliges the state as the "home of all citizens" to "philosophical and religious neutrality". In practice, however, this legal principle is frequently violated. The "Institut für Weltanschauungsrecht" (ifw - Institute for Secular Law) seeks to counteract this deficiency.​

The "Institut für Weltanschauungsrecht" (ifw - Institute for Secular Law) officially started operating today with the activation of its website. The institute's aim is to strengthen the right to "freedom of belief" guaranteed by the German Basic Law. This includes, as the ifw explains in its guideline, "not only the right to uphold a religious or non-religious worldview, but also the freedom to shape one's own life according to these beliefs, provided that no rights of third parties are violated as a result". According to the ifw, "this fundamental freedom of citizens is illegitimately limited in many areas of the law - from the cradle to the grave and even beyond, ranging from embryo protection to the requirement to bury the dead in a cemetery". Many legal norms and state institutions are not "worldview neutral" despite the corresponding constitutional obligation, but are based on religious beliefs which are no longer supported by the majority of the population.
 

Multiple violations against the principle of ideological neutrality

A striking example of "ideological imbalance in the state" is the "paternalistic Euthanasia Prevention Act", which was passed by the German parliament in 2015 "against the will of eighty percent of the citizens and against the vote of German criminal law teachers," says Michael Schmidt-Salomon, philosopher and spokesman of the Giordano Bruno Stiftung (gbs), who was actively involved in the ifw founding process. Thanks to the help from Christian-conservative politicians, with § 217 StGB the churches succeeded "in de jure regaining a part of the interpretive sovereignty over the dying process which they had de facto long since lost": "They used parliament as an instrument in order to impose a religiously founded behavioural norm on the population which is accepted only by a minority."

The "Euthanasia Prevention Act" is just one example among many: "In fact, there are many laws and ordinances in criminal and tax law, in media, medical, and labor law, in state constitutions, holiday laws, and school ordinances that violate the principle of worldview neutrality". This situation is no longer acceptable, says Schmidt-Salomon: "We must resolve the worldview imbalance in our legal system! For only an ideological neutral state can guarantee worldview freedom to all citizens. It alone has the necessary credibility to act as an impartial arbitrator in cases of conflict and to ensure compliance with obligatory rules, since it cannot be appropriated by any actor on the philosophical and religious playing field."
 

A high-profile "legal task force"

This conviction is shared by administrative lawyer Jacqueline Neumann, who assumed scientific coordination in the ifw directorate. Neumann explains how the institute was founded: "In order to meet the growing number of legal enquiries, a legal task force of experienced lawyers and legal experts was set up within the gbs years ago. We are currently involved in a dozen proceedings at both national and European level. This led to the idea of bringing together the various legal and political activities in the field of secular law in a single institute. Ultimately, with the help of ifw, we want to contribute to ensuring that the constitutional principle of the state's worldview neutrality is finally given the significance it deserves."

The ifw directorate can count on prominent support: The advisory board includes several law professors, including Reinhard Merkel, who is also a member of the German Ethics Council, former SPD top politician Ingrid Matthäus-Maier, former state minister Rolf Schwanitz in the Federal Chancellery, and former German Federal Chancellery minister Till Müller-Heidelberg, who was chairman of the Humanistische Union for many years and co-editor of the annual "Grundrechte-Report" ("Fundamental Rights Report"). (Information about all members of the ifw board of directors and advisory board can be found here.)
 

Open for cooperation

Michael Schmidt-Salomon vigorously refutes the accusation that a legal institution financed by the humanistic Giordano Bruno Stiftung has an "ideological imbalance" of its own: "We are taking sides with the voice of reason - and this is not necessarily rooted in a particular social group, not even in the nondenominational groups! Although it is true that the proceedings that we are currently conducting are directed against church privileges or against religiously distorted interpretations of fundamental rights, if secular organisations were to violate the freedom of belief of religious citizens, the ifw would address the issue just as clearly."

Jacqueline Neumann adds: "We seek cooperation with those who advocate rationally founded, evidence-based, worldview neutral, and just legal norms. Regardless of whether someone has a religious or non-religious preconception. The ifw is politically independent, non-partisan, and not commercially oriented. We are open to partnerships with all governmental and non-governmental organizations that support a secular legal policy."

The ifw website, which will be further expanded in the coming months, offers case descriptions and expert opinions as well as an extensive collection of comments on decisions concerning secular law by the Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG). The website also contains an online version of Gerhard Czermak's encyclopaedia "Religion und Weltanschauung in Gesellschaft und Recht" ("Religion and Philosophy in Society and Law"). The former administrative judge has dealt with questions of secular law like few other German lawyers in recent decades - a task he will now continue as a member of the ifw directorate.

Further information on the institute and on the legal backgrounds of worldview freedom and the required neutrality of the state can be found at: https://weltanschauungsrecht.de.