Symposium with the China University of Political Science and Law on the benefit dimension of basic rights

The China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL) and the FES Beijing office jointly hosted a webinar on the benefit dimension of basic rights.

Basic rights in Germany have both a protective and a benefit dimension, whereby the latter can be understood as freedom by the state. Furthermore, a distinction is made between original and derivative rights. The legislator enjoys sufficient space to maneuver in balancing individual benefit claims by a citizen against the balance of the entire society. Since basic social rights are not codified in the German basic law, claims for benefits of individual citizens against the state therefore exist normally only in accordance with the social policy laid down in the respective laws.

This is what Prof. Reinhard Gaier, former judge at the federal constitutional court of Germany; Dr. Thomas Harks, presiding judge at the regional social court of Sachsen-Anhalt as well as Ms. Vanessa Hellmann, University of Bielefeldt, exchanged with their Chinese counterparts from CUPL. Both sides illustrated their respective context with practical example of jurisdiction.