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The Protection of Minority and Regional Languages in Germany

Posted by: Jenny Gesley

Moin (“hello” in Low German)! Today, September 26, 2018, is the European Day of Languages. The European Day of Languages celebrates “linguistic diversity in Europe and promote[s] language learning.” In 2001, the European Union (EU) and the Council of Europe (CoE) jointly organized the European Year of Languages, which turned out to be so successful that …

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Family Voting as a Solution to Low Fertility? Experiences from France and Germany

Posted by: Jenny Gesley

The following is a guest post by Johannes Jäger, a foreign law intern working in the Global Legal Research Directorate of the Law Library of Congress. I recently read an op-ed in the New York Times in which the author passionately advocated for the introduction of “Demeny voting” in the United States. The concept behind this term, named after the demographer …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Silent Public Holidays in Germany

Posted by: Jenny Gesley

Today, March 30, 2018, is Good Friday, a day on which Christians commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Good Friday is an official public holiday in Germany; however it is also one of the “silent public holidays.” Other days on which a silent public holiday is observed include All Saints’ Day, All Souls’ Day, and …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Attorney Advertising in Germany

Posted by: Jenny Gesley

On July 14, 1987, the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht, BVerfG) rendered two decisions that paved the way to allowing attorney advertising in Germany. Nicknamed the “Bastille decisions” because of the date and their ”revolutionary character,” the decisions allowed attorneys for the first time to advertise their services to the public on a regular basis although several …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

New Law Library Report on the Development of Migration and Citizenship Law in Postwar Germany

Posted by: Jenny Gesley

In 2015, there were slightly over 17 million people in Germany with a “migrant background”, accounting for 21% of the country’s total population. A person with a “migrant background” is defined by the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) as someone who was not born a German citizen or who has at least one parent who was not …