Legal Basis
The basic rights of freedom of expression and artistic freedom in Article 5 of the German Grundgesetz are not guaranteed without limits. Along with the "provisions of general laws and "provisions in the right of personal honor", "provisions for the protection of young persons" may restrict freedom of expression (Article 5 Paragraph 2).
The Jugendschutzgesetz (Youth Protection Law), which came into effect in April 2003, is one such provision. It superseded the Gesetz über die Verbreitung jugendgefährdender Schriften (Law on the Distribution of Writings Harmful to Young Persons) as the legal basis for the restriction of freedom of expression when applied to physical media (printed works, videos, CD-ROMs etc.).
The Jugendmedienschutz-Staatsvertrag (State Treaty on Media Protection of Young Persons) between the different Länder came into effect on the same day as the Jugendschutzgesetz and regulates the distribution of broadcasts and virtual media. It also provides a legal basis for the actions of the BPjM.
Read more about this topic: Federal Department For Media Harmful To Young Persons
Famous quotes containing the words legal and/or basis:
“Lawyers are necessary in a community. Some of you ... take a different view; but as I am a member of that legal profession, or was at one time, and have only lost standing in it to become a politician, I still retain the pride of the profession. And I still insist that it is the law and the lawyer that make popular government under a written constitution and written statutes possible.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
“Our fathers and grandfathers who poured over the Midwest were self-reliant, rugged, God-fearing people of indomitable courage.... They asked only for freedom of opportunity and equal chance. In these conceptions lies the real basis of American democracy. They and their fathers give a genius to American institutions that distinguished our people from any other in the world.”
—Herbert Hoover (1874–1964)