Sharia Germany: New Law Banning Child Marriage Declared Unconstitutional

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The case involves a Syrian couple — a 14-year-old Syrian girl married to her 21-year-old cousin — who arrived in Germany at the height of the migrant crisis. More of the poison fruit from the hijrah. Islam in da house.

Germany: New Law Banning Child Marriage Declared Unconstitutional

  • The ruling, which effectively opens the door to legalizing Sharia-based child marriages in Germany, is one of a growing number of instances in which German courts are — wittingly or unwittingly — promoting the establishment of a parallel Islamic legal system in the country.
  • “Germany cannot, on the one hand, be against child marriages internationally, and on the other hand, be for such marriages in our own country. The best interests of the child cannot be compromised in this case. (…) This is about the constitutionally established protection of children and minors!” — Winfried Bausback, Bavarian lawmaker who helped draft the law against child marriage.
  • “We should consider one more thing: judgments are made ‘in the name of the people.’ This people has clearly expressed through its representatives in the Bundestag that it no longer wants to recognize child marriage.” — Commentator Andreas von Delhaes-Guenther.

The Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH), Germany’s highest court of civil and criminal jurisdiction, has ruled that a new law that bans child marriage may be unconstitutional because all marriages, including Sharia-based child marriages, are protected by Germany’s Basic Law (Grundgesetz).

The ruling, which effectively opens the door to legalizing Sharia-based child marriages in Germany, is one of a growing number of instances in which German courts are — wittingly or unwittingly — promoting the establishment of a parallel Islamic legal system in the country.

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The case involves a Syrian couple — a 14-year-old Syrian girl married to her 21-year-old cousin — who arrived in Germany at the height of the migrant crisis in August 2015. The Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt) refused to recognize their marriage and separated the girl from her husband. When the husband filed a lawsuit, a family court in Aschaffenburg ruled in favor of the Youth Welfare Office, which claimed to be the girl’s legal guardian.

In May 2016, an appeals court in Bamberg overturned the decision. The court ruled that the marriage was valid because it was contracted in Syria, where, according to Sharia law, child marriages are allowed. The ruling effectively legalized Sharia child marriages in Germany.

The ruling — described as a “crash course in Syrian Islamic marriage law” — ignited a firestorm of criticism. Some accused the Bamberg court of applying Sharia law over German law to legalize a practice banned in Germany.

“Religious or cultural justifications obscure the simple fact that older, perverse men are abusing young girls,” said Rainer Wendt, head of the German police union.

Monika Michell of Terre des Femmes, a women’s rights group that campaigns against child marriage, added: “A husband cannot be the legal guardian of a child bride because he is involved in a sexual relationship with her — a very obvious conflict of interest.”

The Justice Minister of Hesse, Eva Kühne-Hörmann, asked: “If underage persons — quite rightly — are not allowed to buy a beer, why should the lawmakers allow children to make such profound decisions related to marriage?”

Others said the ruling would open the floodgates of cultural conflict in Germany, as Muslims would view it as a precedent to push for the legalization of other Islamic practices, including polygamy, in the country.

In September 2016, the German Interior Ministry, responding to a Freedom of Information Act request, revealed that 1,475 married children — including 361 children under the age of 14 — were known to be living in Germany as of July 31, 2016.

In a bid to protect girls who were married abroad but sought asylum in Germany, the German parliament on June 1, 2017 had passed legislation banning child marriages. The so-called Law to Fight Child Marriage (Gesetz zur Bekämpfung von Kinderehen) set the minimum age of consent for marriage in Germany at 18 years and nullified all existing marriages, including those contracted abroad, where a participant was under the age of 16 at the time of the ceremony.

Germany’s Federal Court of Justice, in its ruling, published on December 14, 2018, stated that the new law may be unconstitutional because it violated Articles 1 (human dignity), 2 (free development of personality), 3 (equal protection) and 6 (protection of marriage and family) of the Basic Law, which serves as the German constitution.

The court also ruled that the new law cannot be applied retroactively, and therefore cannot apply to the Syrian couple, who were married in February 2015.

Finally, the Federal Court of Justice asked the Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) to examine the legality of Germany’s blanket-ban on child marriage and to determine whether German authorities should heretofore assess the validity of child marriages on a case-by-case basis.

The ruling ignores Article 6 of the Introductory Act to the German Civil Code (Einführungsgesetz zum Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuche, EGBGB), which states:

“A legal standard of another State shall not be applied where its application results in an outcome which is manifestly incompatible with the essential principles of German law. In particular, it is not applicable if the application is incompatible with fundamental rights.”

By shielding the Syrian couple from German law, the court has not only legitimized the use of Sharia law to determine the outcome of legal cases in Germany, it has also established a precedent that will almost certainly be used in the future by defenders of child marriage and other foreign laws.

Moreover, by insisting that the legitimacy of child marriages be examined on a case-by-case basis, the court has opened the door to so-called cultural exceptions, namely those enshrined in Sharia law, which does not set any age limit to marriage.

Winfried Bausback, a Bavarian lawmaker who helped draft the law against child marriage, was outraged by the court’s decision:

“Because of our Constitution and for the benefit of the child, in the present case, there should be only one answer: This marriage must be null and void right from the beginning.

“Germany cannot on the one hand be against child marriages internationally, and on the other hand be for such marriages in our own country. The best interests of the child cannot be compromised in this case. (…) This is about the constitutionally established protection of children and minors!”

Commentator Andreas von Delhaes-Guenther wrote:

“In the end, it is a question of principle to what extent Germany wants to accept foreign law, which is completely contrary to our law on important issues. It took centuries to remove the Middle Ages from our law; we must not now bring it back for reasons of alleged tolerance or ‘individual case consideration.’ Rather, we must say that in Germany, German law applies to all, especially in important legal interests such as life, health — or just the welfare of the child, with an immutable age limit for marriages.

“We should consider one more thing: judgments are made ‘in the name of the people.’ This people has clearly expressed through its representatives in the Bundestag that it no longer wants to recognize child marriage.”

German Courts and Sharia Law

German courts are increasingly deferring to Islamic law because either the plaintiffs or the defendants are Muslim. Critics say the cases — especially those in which German law has taken a back seat to Sharia law — reflect a dangerous encroachment of Islamic law into the German legal system.

In November 2016, for instance, a court in Wuppertal ruled that seven Islamists who formed a vigilante patrol to enforce Sharia law on city streets did not break German law and were simply exercising their right to free speech.

The self-appointed “Sharia Police” had sparked public outrage in September 2014, when they distributed yellow leaflets that established a “Sharia-controlled zone” in the Elberfeld district of Wuppertal. The men urged both Muslim and non-Muslim passersby to attend mosques and to refrain from alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, gambling, music, pornography and prostitution.

Wuppertal’s public prosecutor, Wolf-Tilman Baumert, argued that the men, who wore orange vests emblazoned with the words “SHARIAH POLICE,” had violated a law that bans wearing uniforms at public rallies. The law, which especially prohibits uniforms that express political views, was originally designed to prevent neo-Nazi groups from parading in public. According to Baumert, the vests were illegal because they had a “deliberate, intimidating and militant” effect.

The Wuppertal District Court, however, ruled that the vests technically were not uniforms, and in any event did not pose a threat. The court said that witnesses and passersby could not possibly have felt intimidated by the men, and that prosecuting them would infringe on their freedom of expression. The “politically correct” decision, which was successfully appealed, effectively authorized the Sharia Police to continue enforcing Islamic law in Wuppertal.

On January 11, 2018, however, the Federal Court of Justice overturned the Wuppertal court’s decision and ordered the seven individuals to be retried. The Federal Court stated that they had indeed violated the law that bans the wearing of uniforms.

Sharia law has been encroaching into the German justice system virtually unchecked for nearly two decades. Some examples include:

  • In August 2000, a court in Kassel ordered a widow to split her late Moroccan husband’s pension with another woman to whom the man was simultaneously married. Although polygamy is illegal in Germany, the judge ruled that the two wives must share the pension, in accordance with Moroccan law.
  • In March 2004, a court in Koblenz granted the second wife of an Iraqi living in Germany the right to remain permanently in the country. The court ruled that after five years in a polygamous marriage in Germany, it would be unfair to expect her to return to Iraq.
  • In March 2007, a judge in Frankfurt cited the Koran in a divorce case involving a German-Moroccan woman who had been repeatedly beaten by her Moroccan husband. Although police ordered the man to stay away from his estranged wife, he continued to abuse her and at one point threatened to kill her. Judge Christa Datz-Winter refused to grant the divorce. She quoted Sura 4, Verse 34 of the Koran, which justifies “both the husband’s right to use corporal punishment against a disobedient wife and the establishment of the husband’s superiority over the wife.” The judge was eventually removed from the case.
  • In December 2008, a court in Düsseldorf ordered a Turkish man to pay a €30,000 ($32,000) dower to his former daughter-in-law, in accordance with Sharia law.
  • In October 2010, a court in Cologne ruled that an Iranian man must pay his ex-wife a dower of €162,000 euros ($171,000), the current equivalent value of 600 gold coins, in accordance with the original Sharia marriage contract.
  • In December 2010, a court in Munich ruled that a German widow was entitled to only one-quarter of the estate left by her late husband, who was born in Iran. The court awarded the other three-quarters of the inheritance to the man’s relatives in Tehran in accordance with Sharia law.
  • In November 2011, a court in Siegburg allowed an Iranian couple to be divorced twice, first by a German judge according to German law, and then by an Iranian cleric according to Sharia law. The director of the Siegburg District Court, Birgit Niepmann, said the Sharia ceremony “was a service of the court.”
  • In July 2012, a court in Hamm ordered an Iranian man to pay his estranged wife a dower as part of a divorce settlement. The case involved a couple who married according to Sharia law in Iran, migrated to Germany and later separated. As part of the original marriage agreement, the husband promised to pay his wife a dower of 800 gold coins payable upon demand. The court ordered the husband to pay the woman €213,000 ($225,000), the current equivalent value of the coins.
  • In June 2013, a court in Hamm ruled that anyone who contracts marriage according to Islamic law in a Muslim country and later seeks a divorce in Germany must abide by the original terms established by Sharia law. The landmark ruling effectively legalized the Sharia practice of “triple-talaq,” obtaining a divorce by reciting the phrase “I divorce you” three times.
  • In July 2016, a court in Hamm ordered a Lebanese man to pay his estranged wife a dower as part of a divorce settlement. The case involved a couple who married according to Sharia law in Lebanon, migrated to Germany and later separated. As part of the original marriage agreement, the husband promised to pay his wife a dower of $15,000. The German court ordered him to pay her the equivalent amount in euros.

In an interview with Spiegel Online, Islam expert Mathias Rohe defended the existence of parallel legal structures in Germany as an “expression of globalization.” He added: “We apply Islamic law just as we do French law.”

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Jay Wizzy
Jay Wizzy
5 years ago

America shouldn’t had left the German government to the Germans & Russians after the 2. world-war.
Germans have a vacuum when it comes to learning ethical values & so they think that globalism must involve the unjust Muhammad-law.
Unjust Muhammad married his cousin I think & that’s why Muhammadists inbreed with the consequences of genetic disorders.
To this of course can be added the brutal unjust Muhammadist indoctrination of children, the brutal torture of the lifelong-lasting torture of the cutting off of clitorisses, the forced theism, forced marriage, mind-control, rape, incitement to war, terror & more.
Germany, France, Belgium, Britain, Sweden & so on might have prepared their welfare system for the arrival of their religious masters.
Hitler viewed the unjust Muhammadism as ultimate Nazi religion that as he told his architect Alber Speer matches the German temperament better & many Nazi criminals converted to the unjust Muhammadism & worked for the Egyptian Muhammadist regime under Nasser or in Syria.
German Leopold Gleim for example, head of the Gestapo in Germany-occupied Poland changed his name to Ali al-Nahar & worked for Nasser after the war.
A similar ruling was now in the USA. An anti-clitodirecomy-bill was declared unconstitutional by a judge.
Trump-care, if you want to keep your clitoris you can keep it. Need a bag?
To teach ethical values & make clear that globalism can never be Muhammadist we must get clear on what ethical values are:
truth, justice, love, American English, friendliness, ecology, human rights, global imperialism, freedom from religion & to atheism, healthy food (see DrAxe.com), cultivation of ecological best quality basics, support for self-realisation & the abolition of the unjust Muhammad-law globally.

patd
patd
5 years ago

Can’t fix STUPID with libturds! So now GE has a constitution that protects marriage to a child….BS!

Kputt
Kputt
5 years ago

…again and again and again: millions of german taxpayers are not allowed to say anything or protesting in any way of anger against this N E W SCANDAL!!!!! Even Merkel’s “long arm” controls and discriminate her “own” people.

All the social medias are full of antipathy towards their government – unfortunately the Germans obviously do not have the same “genes” like the French.Because of the devilish Nazi-period, three (!) generations back, today’s Germans still have not found the courage to bring their problems and concerns to the streets by legitimate protests. Redleftgreen “gooddoers” are still dominating the “Bring-down-agenda” of Germany. Therefore it’s finally time to buy yellow gilets, as well !

felix1999
felix1999
5 years ago
Reply to  Kputt

This is too vile to think about…..Can you imagine the birth defects from incest and what promoting pedophilia will do for their country? Then add insane Islam to the mix.

felix1999
felix1999
5 years ago
Reply to  Kputt

This is too vile to think about…..Can you imagine the birth defects from incest and what promoting pedophilia will do for their country? Then add insane Islam to the mix.

felix1999
felix1999
5 years ago

I guess Germany is submitting to “Sharia law.”
My God! They are normalizing and legalizing pedophilia and incest.
comment image?resize=600,377

Poptoy1949
Poptoy1949
5 years ago

This is Insane! Have the Good People of Germany lost their fricking Minds?

Petra M
Petra M
5 years ago
Reply to  Poptoy1949

80% of these so called in religion name only marriages are bs.
These bitches are receiving welfare and is hubby but unemployment benefits while running his cousin greengrocer shop getting paid cash in hand. The whole world is becoming morally bankrupt with Moslems and don’t mention welfare! Is that why governments are accepting Asian Richie to help out flagging worldwide western governments.

John Acord
John Acord
5 years ago

The civil war in Syria has ended. There is no need for these people to remain in Germany Or anywhere else. They are needed to rebuild their country. Remove them immediately.

Alleged-Comment
Alleged-Comment
5 years ago

German ‘elite and politicians finally freed from Christianity now have a good excuse to practice what they always wanted but couldn’t.

With Sharia law and Mouslems they now have a good excuse to release their inhibitions.

No wonder it was always; Welcome Mouslem – Welcome Negro.

Hans Wellington
Hans Wellington
5 years ago

Does that mean that under their anti discrimination laws any German can marry a child or cousin as well?? I can just imagine how their judiciary, plenty of them being pedophiles and perverts, would love that law……….Absolutely sick !!! Poor Germany !!

Poppey
Poppey
5 years ago

Having read all that, it’s clear that the courts in Germany are both a product of that compromised society and so far down the slippery slope of left wing “group think” that they are now coming to the end of their usefulness.

There are people still active in political life there who rightly rail at those courts and their proclivity to speculate on whether their decisions comply with a globalist agenda, but a court should never do that, all must uphold German law in Germany because to lawfully impose two standards or codes completely different and 1400 years apart in formulation and intent must be viewed as a very dangerous step.

All such decisions have first to be given an elective mandate after being fully and openly discussed by society because such change is so radical. As ordinary people in both England and Germany are now coming to suspect, the more you cave in to demands from certain groups in society, the more terrorism you end up with.

Clem Jackson
Clem Jackson
5 years ago

So a syrian “couple” fleeing war torn persecuted syria,(first cousins) (inbreeding) then somehow obtain the finances to launch a legal challenge against the german governments marraige laws.(no respect for the laws in place)

Now they will breed misfits as is so often the case in the UK when muslim first cousins breed. Fact, 23% of child NHS services budget is spent on caring for the disabled, mentally impared, created by inbreeding. I wonder if it is the inbreeding that has diminished their IQ and thus leaves these people suseptable to the repugnant ideology of islam. Just a thought

iprazhm
iprazhm
5 years ago

As soon as enough muslims sit in congressional seats, the RINO and dems will vote with them to also legalize pedophila in the U.S.

Occam’s Razor
Occam’s Razor
5 years ago
Reply to  iprazhm

I think it might be harder to take America away from Americans.

MuhamMUDTheFakeProphet
MuhamMUDTheFakeProphet
5 years ago

Two words: Dearbornistan, Michigan.

iprazhm
iprazhm
5 years ago

We’re almost there now. Because of the powerful influence the homosexual lobby has on the whole of society, children are being butchered through surgery, chemically sterilized by hormone treatments, indoctrinated by media and in public schools to change their gender. Have you not seen reports going viral of the little boy who performs regularly as a drag queen in public libraries and even gay bars? He was recently on NBC, who was glorifying his transformation.
Men are now allowed by law enforcement to enter women’s restrooms where little girls are prey for sex offenders.

tomelora
tomelora
5 years ago

So laws that apply to child marriages are only going to be for German citizens and not moslimes? Or are laws going to be changed to accommodate moslimes only.

aemoreira1981
aemoreira1981
5 years ago

The problem is a gap in the law, not the courts. The saving grace in the USA from this is the existence of statutory rape laws and underage consent laws. Germany likely has to amend its Constitution to close this gap.

@tomelora:disqus – technically this law is struck down for everyone.

@iprazhm:disqus – if pedophilia was going to be legalized in the USA, it would have been. That’s not happening.

@clemjackson:disqus – in most countries, the country’s Constitution comes first. The law has to respect the constitution of the country (or subdivision) before people are expected to respect the law. The USA, as an example, is a country of a COTUS.

@Poptoy1949:disqus – no because this is not unlike a gap in the COTUS in the USA that prevents the federal government from defining marriage.

santashandler
santashandler
5 years ago

Why aren’t the German people protesting in the streets, daily over this. Today, its child marriages. Tomorrow, German beer and Oktoberfest will be outlawed. Its happening so gradually, it’s hardly noticeable. Until the German people wake up one day to the sound of national call to prayers.

Qur'an 18:86
Qur'an 18:86
5 years ago

I think it is important to bear in mind that this is a decision from the top of the PC-greed-globalist beast. And even here you can see the different courts wavering. As the backlash against PC-greed-globalism carries on forward, sick decisions such as this will become rarer and overturned.

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