Men of military age no longer require permission when they want to travel abroad. The Federal Ministry of Defense clarified that an exception clause in the Military Service Act will be made the standard rule, meaning that "applications for stays abroad do not need to be filed" as long as military service remains voluntary. Former President of the Federal Constitutional Court Hans-Jürgen Papier sharply criticized the structure of the law.
The regulation in the new Military Service Act had caused a stir over the Easter weekend. According to it, men must "obtain permission from the relevant Bundeswehr career center if they wish to leave the Federal Republic of Germany for longer than three months" after completing their 17th year of life. At the same time, the law stipulates that applications for foreign travel must be approved as long as military service is voluntary.
"Every man may travel freely," the Federal Ministry of Defense declared on Thursday. This has now been clarified by means of a general decree in the Federal Gazette and internal administrative regulations. This creates "both clarity for all those affected and legal certainty for the administration."
A corresponding regulation had already been announced by the Bundeswehr on Tuesday, stating: "Men between 17 and 45 years of age do not need to report separately before a stay abroad."
The Defense Ministry pointed out that the provisions of the "foreign travel regulation" in Section 3 of the Compulsory Military Service Act are not new, but were only reactivated with the law amendment at the beginning of the year. With the clarification that has now been made, according to the ministry, "an expressly provided possibility is being used to allow exceptions to the permit requirement."
Former Constitutional Court President Papier called the regulation "a prime example of completely inadequate legislative craftsmanship." The permit requirement is "a serious encroachment on fundamental freedoms, on general freedom of action," Papier told "Welt am Sonntag." "Particularly given our experiences with the limitation of freedom to leave the country in previous unlawful regimes, we should be very vigilant when it comes to such limitations."
The regulation is also "pointless," since there is currently no compulsory military service. "If one were really to practice it, it would be a serious encroachment on fundamental rights without sense or purpose. And that is clearly unconstitutional," the legal expert emphasized.
Papier further said he was "honestly quite astonished how this Section 3 Paragraph 2 of the Compulsory Military Service Act could have passed not only the competent department of the Defense Minister, but also the Justice and Interior Ministries, all of which are also responsible for upholding the Constitution." Either it was overlooked or, "almost even worse, completely misjudged."
A military service reform came into force on January 1st. It provides for the reintroduction of military registration and compulsory medical examination for 18-year-old men. Women can volunteer for medical examination. The goal of the reform is to increase personnel levels in the armed forces.
The law passed does not provide for a return to the general compulsory military service suspended since 2011. However, it opens the door to a so-called "needs-based conscription" in the event that desired personnel levels are not achieved through the volunteer model.
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