Die Verbindlichkeit des Rechts journal article Paul Kirchhof Zeitschrift für Europäisches Umwelt- und Planungsrecht, Volume 16 (2018), Issue 1, Page 24 - 33 In a constitutional democracy, the rationality and freedom from arbitrariness of government action is organised in the binding law. This principle is in danger when legislation misses the reality, when legal consequences are arranged or when the citizen tries to undermine the binding character of the law by contractual arrangements and steer the legislation by cooperation. The flood of rules, exceptions and contradictions, frequent amendments and the variety of legal sources modify the structure of the law. The “golden rein” of the public financial power replaces the law. Therefore, we need to think of an order that strengthens and renews the legality of public bindings as the main system of government legitimation and actions.
Umweltrecht und Unternehmerfreiheit journal article Paul Kirchhof Zeitschrift für Europäisches Umwelt- und Planungsrecht, Volume 14 (2016), Issue 4, Page 332 - 342 Humankind is an integral part of the natural cosmos, contending for the mastery of and control over nature. As individual subjects, human beings are endowed with self-determination, which entitles them zo exercise rights but also threatens nature and, thus, the very foundations of human existence. Therefore, the law has to balance economic freedom and ecology. In principle, economic activities are free. State intervention is an exception that has to be justified. A free society puts trust in the ability of its members as beings endowed with reason not to destroy the natural foundations, which sustain us all. The legal order realises its legal subjects as rational entities both bound by nature and responsible for nature. Environmental law not only defines unavailable common goods but also the very substance of freedom. Against this background, free enterprise and ecology have to be interpreted holistically as integral parts of a society striving for freedom, rationality, and knowledge.
Ausnahmen und Abweichungen von Zielen der Raumordnung – Effektive Instrumente eines neuen „Deutschlandtempos“? Martin Beckmann
