State Authority for the Protection of the Constitution

In Germany, in eight provinces, a state authority for constitutional protection to contribute (also State Office for the Protection of the Constitution ) with the task with intelligence means protection of the Constitution. In eight other states, the tasks of the Constitutional protection are carried out by a department of the interior ministry.

Historical development and principle of separation

In 1950, a domestic intelligence agency was created with the Federal Office for Protection of the Constitution in the Federal Republic for the first time, which has since been separated organizationally, and functionally kompetenziell by the police. In the following years the countries have established federally independent State Offices for the Protection of the Constitution.

The separation of the police and the Protection of the Constitution is expressly stated in the Constitution protection laws of the federal and state governments as well as in Brandenburg and Saxony addition of the local state constitutions; whether 20 of the Basic Law can be concluded a principle of separation from the federal principle of the article is disputed.

The separation rule states that for intelligence services and police their own organizationally separate from each other authorities are to be created ( organizational component), both devices have a different task (functional component) and beyond with different powers act ( kompetenzielle component). The principle of separation does not mean that a transfer of information between the police and secret service would be prohibited. Rather, where the task fulfillment that makes necessary a required interagency cooperation. The common counter-terrorism center in Berlin and the newly created anti -terrorism database are exemplary for such collaboration.

Organizational Structure

In the Federal Republic, there are 16 state agencies and two federal agencies for the protection of the Constitution. In addition to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution of the Military Counterintelligence shall perform the duties of the constitutional protection for the portfolio of the Federal Ministry of Defence.

The state and federal authorities are separated from each other and there are basically no authority to issue between them.

The organization of the national authorities is regulated differently. While some countries like the Federation organize their constitutional protection authorities as country offices, which are responsible to the relevant internal department (eg Bavaria, Saxony), the Protection of the Constitution is in other countries as a department organizational component of the respective internal departments (eg, Brandenburg, Berlin ).

Tasks

The BFV and the State authorities for State Protection ( LFV ) have to collect by law ( § 3 BVerfSchG or state constitution protection laws) information, particularly proper and personal information, news and documentation about and evaluate:

• efforts that are directed against the free democratic basic order, the existence or security of the Federation and of a country or have an unlawful interference with the official leadership of the constitutional organs of the Federation or of a country or its members as its object,

• affect the security or intelligence activities within the scope of this Act for a foreign power,

• efforts by the use of force, ensure or acts preparatory to foreign interests of the Federal Republic of Germany;

• aspirations, against the idea of ​​international (Art. 9 para 2 GG ), in particular against the peaceful coexistence of peoples (Art. 26 paragraph 1 GG ) are directed. In addition, some LfV observe policies and activities of organized crime. Furthermore, the BFV and the LFV interact with

• for the vetting of persons to whom the requirement of confidentiality in the public interest facts, objects or findings are entrusted that should have access to or can obtain it yourself,

• type in the security screening of persons who are employed in security sensitive areas of life or defense major facilities or are to be,

• in case of technical security measures to protect, disclosures of public interest facts, objects or findings against access by unauthorized persons, in the verification of persons in other cases specified by law.

Powers / information collection

In addition to the collection of pertinent open data as part of the fulfillment of tasks the national authorities are at various so-called intelligence agent for the collection of personal data, depending on the applicable legal basis for them. In an intelligence agent, it is basically the means and methods of covert information gathering. These include the classical manner:

  • Use of so-called V- men: The Protection of the Constitution uses the information collection called human resources that come from the observed wing extremist scene and pass on the information obtained there to the intelligence services. You are constitution protection authority in any employment.
  • Observations
  • Covert investigations and surveys
  • Use of legends and Tarnpapieren
  • Interception of telecommunications and postal traffic according to the law relating to Article 10 of the Basic Law.

This list is not comprehensive and varies in each country and the federal government, depending on their legal basis.

Individual countries

In half of the states own Offices for the Protection of the Constitution have been established:

  • State Office for State Protection Baden -Württemberg
  • Bavarian State Office for Protection of the Constitution
  • State Office for the Protection of the Constitution Bremen
  • State Office for the Protection of the Constitution of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
  • State Office for the Protection of the Constitution Hesse
  • State Office for the Protection of the Constitution Saarland
  • State Office for the Protection of the Constitution Saxony
  • Thuringian State Office for the Protection of the Constitution

In the following countries the constitutional protection is a department of the Ministry of Interior:

  • Berlin
  • Brandenburg
  • Mecklenburg -Western Pomerania
  • Lower Saxony
  • North Rhine -Westphalia
  • Rhineland -Palatinate
  • Saxony-Anhalt
  • Schleswig-Holstein
Bundesnachrichtendienst
497495
de