Journal of the Charles University Law Faculty
Jiří Georgiev, Ondřej Skulina
Author’s affiliation:
Faculty of Law, Charles University in Prague
The debt brake in outline of the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court in Germany
Jurisprudence 4/2024 Section: Articles Page: 2-9
Keywords: fiscal rules, debt brake, constitutional review, Federal Constitutional Court
Abstract: Although the so-called debt brake was incorporated into the text of the German constitution (Basic Law) as early as 2009, it was only last year that the Federal Constitutional Court defined the limits of ordinary budgetary legislation with its decision on the second supplementary budget law for 2021. The Court pointed out that structured legal concepts are subject to interpretation and that the exception for states of emergency cannot be interpreted extensively. The fundamental principles of budgetary law are the principles of annual budgeting and ex-ante decision-making, which contribute to the transparency of the process. In this context, the authors' contribution not only deals with the subsequent reflection on the decision, but also does not leave aside the question of the transferability of the German model to the circumstances of another country.
