"IN GOOD SHAPE? THE FUTURE OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL STATE" PROGRAM PREVIEW OF THE FOUNDATION FORUM RECHT 2024

In the 75th anniversary year of the Basic Law, the Stiftung Forum Recht is asking how the rule of law in Germany is positioned for the challenges of the future. With exhibitions, workshops and a live podcast, the foundation offers innovative approaches to the topics of law and the rule of law.

Karlsruhe/Leipzig. How is the Basic Law faring in the year of its 75th birthday? And what about its future? With the annual theme "In good shape? The future of the constitutional state", the Stiftung Forum Recht 2024 is placing these questions at the center of its activities. In times of social change and political stress tests, constitutions provide orientation and reliability. But how well equipped is the Basic Law for the future? What answers can it find to the threat posed by the rise of right-wing populism or the growing awareness of the limits of natural resources? And what role do the rule of law and the Basic Law actually play in our everyday lives?

Society on the move

Protests and demonstrations as well as debates about the fundamental values of our society are currently moving and unsettling many people in Germany. The Stiftung Forum Recht is therefore looking for answers as to how the judiciary, politics and civil society can shape the future of the constitution and the democratic constitutional state between trust and indifference.
With exhibitions, workshops and events, the Stiftung Forum Recht is once again giving citizens the opportunity to engage with the future of the rule of law at the foundation's locations in Karlsruhe and Leipzig, but also nationwide and digitally.

What happens when politics undermines the rule of law?

The international photo exhibition SPRAWIEDLIWOŚĆ - JUSTICE by Polish photographer Piotr Wójcik is the programmatic prelude to the annual program. The exhibition and the supporting program focus on what happens when the rule of law is undermined for political reasons. The exhibition is highly topical against the backdrop of discussions in Germany about protecting the Federal Constitutional Court from the influence of extreme parties. It can be seen until April 7, 2024 in the rooms of the Stiftung Forum Recht in Karlsruhe and in parts in the Foundation's shop windows in Leipzig.
In addition, an online presentation offers the opportunity to explore the photographs and in-depth background information online.

Stiftung Forum Recht reads at Leipzig

For the first time, the Stiftung Forum Recht is participating in the Leipzig Reads program around the Leipzig Book Fair with three events on the topic of law and the rule of law on 21 and 22 March 2024. The comic anthology "Wir haben die Wahl! Cartoons und Demokratie" (Carlsen Verlag) and the new series of publications by the Forschungsinstitut Gesellschaftlicher Zusammenhalt ("Gesellschaftlicher Zusammenhalt" published by Campus Verlag) will be presented and discussed at the Stiftung Forum Recht in Leipzig.

As a cooperation partner of the nationwide writing competition "Die Freiheit, die ich meine" on this year's theme of "Freedom of Conscience", the Stiftung Forum Recht is also hosting the award ceremony, which will take place at the Leipzig Book Fair in the Foundation's offices. Dr. Stephan N. Barthelmess, acting director of the foundation, is a member of the competition jury this year. With over 800 entries from all over Germany, the 2024 competition offers a broad platform for discussion on fundamental rights.

75 years of the Basic Law

The anniversary of the constitution is the focus of the foundation's program this year. The "Young Constitutional Talks", a mediation project in cooperation with the Stadtjugendausschuss e.V. Karlsruhe, will be launched in April. In a multi-part workshop, young people in and around Karlsruhe can develop their questions about the constitution and then meet experts such as constitutional judges or constitutional protectors in conversation. In the anniversary month, the Stiftung Forum Recht, together with the Badische Landesbibliothek, is organizing a panel discussion in Karlsruhe on 21 May 2024 on the question of the extent to which the Basic Law is "only" a robust provisional arrangement or will endure beyond that. To mark the birthday of the Basic Law on 23 May 2024, the Foundation is organizing a conference in cooperation with the Federal Agency for Civic Education and the Society for Civil Liberties.

Live Podcast

At the heart of this year's program is the joint podcast project "In guter Verfassung?" with the Internet radio station detektor.fm from Leipzig. The podcast will go online just in time for the anniversary of the constitution in May 2024 and will focus on the future of the constitutional state: how can the constitution be protected against infiltration, or what influence will climate change have on the future of the constitutional state? The podcast also asks how 75 years of the Basic Law and 35 years of the Peaceful Revolution relate to each other and to what extent East and West German biographies produce different perspectives on the Basic Law. Parts of the podcast will be recorded as live events on the Foundation's premises in Leipzig and the audience is invited to join in and share their own thoughts and experiences.

On the road with the Forum Law Foundation

The Stiftung Forum Recht is inviting people to go on discovery tours with two new educational offers: "Recht stadtlich!" is the title of the city tours that will start in Karlsruhe in early summer 2024 and will also be offered in Leipzig in the future. Once a month, the Stiftung Forum Recht takes interested parties on forays through the two cities of law and shows where the rule of law can be found in the cityscape. Additional dates for groups are available by appointment.

The foundation's theme days are aimed at multipliers such as teachers or youth group leaders. The all-day workshops are each linked to a visit to a "place of law" and offer in-depth insights. In 2024, the first stops will be a visit to the European Court of Human Rights in the middle of the year (focus: rule of law in Europe) and two further theme days, including a visit to Bruchsal Prison in the fall.

Ongoing additions to the program

In addition, a wide range of other events and workshops will take place in 2024 together with cooperation partners in Karlsruhe and Leipzig as well as in other German cities. The Stiftung Forum Recht also reacts dynamically to current developments and makes them the subject of its activities. A series of events entitled "Recht extrem" is currently being planned, which will address how to deal with extreme parties on the basis of a constitutional democracy.