The Military Complaints Regulation, the Wehrbeschwerdeordnung, gives every soldier the right to complain about unfair treatment by superiors. A complaint does not stop an order. Die Beschwerde in truppendienstlichen Angelegenheiten hat keine aufschiebende Wirkung. A complaint in matters of military service does not suspend the measure. The complaint may be filed at the earliest after one night has passed, and at the latest within one month. Nobody may be disciplined or disadvantaged because a complaint did not take the prescribed route.
Obedience That Thinks Along
In April 2003, shortly after the start of the Iraq war, a major in the Bundeswehr refused two written orders. Among other things, they required him to continue work on a Bundeswehr software project. He gave reasons of conscience. A military service court demoted him to captain. On 21 June 2005 the Federal Administrative Court acquitted him. The Soldiers’ Act, the court said, does not demand unconditional obedience. It demands mitdenkenden obedience, obedience that thinks along and considers in particular the consequences of carrying out the order. A decision of conscience, the court added, must be visible from outside and must be possible to explain by reason.
Complaining at Work Is a Legal Right
Under the Works Constitution Act, every employee has the right to complain to the responsible bodies in the company. Wegen der Erhebung einer Beschwerde dürfen dem Arbeitnehmer keine Nachteile entstehen. Making a complaint must not cause the employee any disadvantage. The works council must also accept complaints from employees. On safety at work, the Occupational Safety Act lets employees make suggestions on every question. If they have concrete reasons to believe that the safety measures are not enough, and the employer does not deal with their complaints, they may turn to the responsible authority, again without disadvantage.
Knowledge, Conscience and Responsibility
Ludwig Beck was chief of the general staff of the German army. In his memoranda of 1937 and 1938 he wrote a sentence about the army’s generals that is still quoted: Ihr soldatischer Gehorsam hat dort eine Grenze, wo ihr Wissen, ihr Gewissen und ihre Verantwortung die Ausführung eines Befehles verbietet. Their soldierly obedience has a limit where their knowledge, their conscience and their responsibility forbid carrying out an order. Sources differ on the exact memorandum and date. In the summer of 1938 Beck called on the generals to resign together. They did not. Shortly afterward he gave up his post for reasons of conscience. In 2014 General Klaus Naumann quoted the sentence in a speech published by the Bundeswehr.
Tauroggen
On 30 December 1812, the Prussian general Ludwig Yorck signed an armistice with Russia at Tauroggen, on his own authority. He then wrote to his king, Friedrich Wilhelm III: Ew. Majestät lege ich willig meinen Kopf zu Füßen, wenn ich gefehlt haben sollte. I willingly lay my head at Your Majesty’s feet, if I should have done wrong. At first the king disapproved of the convention.
No One Has the Right to Obey
Niemand hat das Recht zu gehorchen. No one has the right to obey. The sentence is known as graffiti. Kein Mensch hat das Recht zu gehorchen stands on the Mussolini relief in Bolzano. Both are shortened. On 9 November 1964 Hannah Arendt spoke with the journalist Joachim Fest in a radio interview. They discussed Adolf Eichmann’s claim that he had lived by Kant’s moral precepts. Her words were: Kein Mensch hat bei Kant das Recht zu gehorchen. In Kant, no human being has the right to obey.
Explaining a Vote
Under § 31 of the Bundestag’s rules of procedure, every member may explain a final vote. The explanation can be oral, for no more than five minutes, or a short written statement. In the 2017–2021 term, members made 2,073 such statements. Only 11 of them were oral. On 19 August 2015 the Bundestag voted on the third aid package for Greece. Sixty-three members of the CDU/CSU group voted no. One of them, Wolfgang Bosbach, said: Auch durch Druck und Drohungen wird sich mein Abstimmungsverhalten nicht ändern. Pressure and threats will not change how I vote.
Settled in Cabinet
Article 65 of the Basic Law: Über Meinungsverschiedenheiten zwischen den Bundesministern entscheidet die Bundesregierung. The federal government decides disagreements between federal ministers. Under its rules of procedure, the cabinet decides by majority. On 27 November 2017 Germany voted in Brussels for renewing the approval of the weedkiller glyphosate, on the decision of the agriculture minister, Christian Schmidt. The environment minister, Barbara Hendricks, opposed it. Under the government’s rules of procedure, Germany should have abstained. Chancellor Angela Merkel said the vote did not match the instructions the federal government had worked out.
Report Inside First
Since 2 July 2023 the Whistleblower Protection Act, the Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz, has protected people who report violations at work. Employers with, as a rule, at least 50 employees must set up an internal reporting office. A whistleblower may choose between an internal and an external reporting office. The law adds that whistleblowers should prefer the internal office in cases where the violation can be dealt with effectively inside the organization and they do not fear reprisals. Reprisals against whistleblowers are forbidden.
No Chair Can Overrule the Board
The members of a German stock corporation’s management board are, as a rule, authorized to manage the company only jointly. The articles of association or the board’s own rules may provide otherwise. They may not, however, provide that one or more board members decide disagreements on the board against the majority of its members. Not even the chair can do that.