Judgment of the German Constitutional Court on the (un)constitutionality of welfare sanctions BVerfG, 05.11.2019 − 1 BvL 7/16
| Published date | 01 December 2019 |
| Date | 01 December 2019 |
| Author | Valery Gantchev |
| DOI | 10.1177/1388262719895344 |
| Subject Matter | Case Commentry |
Case Commentry
Judgment of the German
Constitutional Court
on the (un)constitutionality
of welfare sanctions BVerfG,
05.11.2019 1 BvL 7/16
Valery Gantchev
University of Groningen, the Netherlands
Introduction
On 5 November 2019, the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht,
BverfG) announced its landmark judgment on the constitutionality of welfare sanctions in the
German social assistance scheme known as Hartz IV.
1
The decision demolished a big portion of
the applicable sanctioning regime after the Court unanimously found that the mandatory reduction
of welfare benefits is in grave violation of the constitutionally guaranteed subsistence minimum.
The long-awaited judgment is expected to shape social assistance in Germany for years to come,
and it will most likely also have a re flective impact at an internati onal level. The following
discussion provides an overview of the facts of the case, the normative constitutional requirements
and the judgment itself. The final part sketches a conclusion and future outlook.
Facts of the case
The case started in 2014, when the body responsible for the administration of Hartz IV benefits
(Jobcenter) reduced the benefits of an unemployed individual for refusing to comply with the
claimant obligations. The man, who had previously been trained as a warehouse worker, rejected
an invitation by the Jobcenter to apply for an open position at a warehouse. He said he was no
longer interested in working in a warehouse and wanted to find a job as a shop assistant instead.
The Jobcenter decided that this refusal constituted a violation of the duty to cooperate by accepting
Corresponding author:
Valery Gantchev, PhD Researcher, Constitutional Law, Administrative Law and Public Administration, University of
Groningen, Oude Kijk in ‘t Jatstraat 26, 9712 CP Groningen, the Netherlands.
E-mail: v.gantchev@rug.nl
1. BVerfG 05.11.2019, 1 BvL 7/16.
European Journal of Social Security
2019, Vol. 21(4) 378–383
ªThe Author(s) 2019
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DOI: 10.1177/1388262719895344
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