With the 2024 theme "A Strong Constitution?" through the Year
The Annual Theme of Stiftung Forum Recht Focuses on the Future of the Rule of Law
How is the Basic Law faring in the year of its 75th birthday? And what about its future? With the annual theme "A strong constitution? The future of the constitutional state", Stiftung Forum Recht puts these questions at the center of its activities in 2024.
Constitutions - such as the German Basic Law - regulate the fundamental rights and duties of their citizens. However, they also define the power of state institutions and the relationship with other countries. Designed for eternity, constitutions provide orientation and reliability in times of social change and political stress tests.
Is the German Basic Law, after 75 years, ready for the challenges of tomorrow? How does it deal with challenges such as limited natural resources or the rising right-wing populism? And where do we encounter the Basic Law in our everyday life?
In various events and educational programmes, the foundation creates spaces and occasions for discussions, encounters and questions in order to find out: How can we classify and shape the future of the rule of law between trust and indifference? To this end, we invite people from civil society, academia, the judiciary and politics, and discuss the constitutional state and the Basic Law in its current and international context.
Programme Highlights
75 years of the Basic Law
To mark the anniversary of the Basic Law on 23 May 2024, we are organising a conference in Berlin in cooperation with the Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb.de) and the Society for Civil Liberties (freiheitsrecht.de). Also in May, Stiftung Forum Recht and the Badische Landesbibliothek are inviting young people to a panel discussion. The focus will be on the question of the extent to which the Basic Law is "only" a robust provisional arrangement or whether it will endure beyond that. At the "Young Constitutional Talks" (in cooperation with the Stadtjugendausschuss e.V. Karlsruhe), young people in Karlsruhe will put their questions on the constitution to experts.
Live Podcast
Our podcast project "A strong constitution?" with the internet radio station detektor.fm from Leipzig will make our annual theme audible throughout Germany. The podcast goes online just in time for the anniversary in May and takes a look at the future: How can the constitution be protected against infiltration? What impact will climate change have on the future of the rule of law? To what extent do East and West German biographies influence different perspectives on the Basic Law 35 years after the Peaceful Revolution? Parts of the podcast will be recorded as live events with an audience at the Foundation's premises in Leipzig. Tune in to the podcast here!
Photo Exhibition
The annual programme opens with the international photo exhibition SPRAWIEDLIWOŚĆ - JUSTICE by Polish photographer Piotr Wójcik in cooperation with the Fundacja Picture Doc. The supporting programme examines what happens when the constitutional state is undermined for political reasons. The exhibition is running until April 7, 2024 in the rooms of the Stiftung Forum Recht in Karlsruhe and in parts in the shop windows of the foundation in Leipzig. In addition, an online presentation offers the opportunity to explore the photographs and furher in-depth background information.
City Tours in Karlsruhe
"Recht stadtlich!" is the title of the city tours that will start in Karlsruhe in early summer 2024 and will also be held in Leipzig in the future. Once a month, the Stiftung Forum Recht invites to take on a stroll through the two cities of law and shows where the legal history can be found in the cityscape. Additional appointments for groups are possible by arrangement.
"Leipzig liest" (Leipzig Reads)
In March, Stiftung Forum Recht will be involved in the Leipzig Book Fair (leipziger-buchmesse.de) public programme, Leipzig liest, for the first time. The comic anthology "Wir haben die Wahl! Cartoons und Demokratie" (Carlsen Verlag) and the new series of publications by the Forschungsinstitut Gesellschaftlicher Zusammenhalt (Campus Verlag) will be presented and discussed at the Foundation in Leipzig. The winners presentation of the writing competition "Die Freiheit die ich meine - Gewissensfreiheit" run by the association "3. Oktober - Deutschland singt und klingt" (3oktober.org) will also take place in the Foundation's rooms.
On the Road with the Foundation
The Foundation's theme days are a new training format designed for multipliers such as teachers or professionals working in the fields of education. The all-day workshops are each combined with a visit to a "place of justice" and offer in-depth insights. In 2024, the first stops will be a visit to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in the middle of the year (focus: rule of law in Europe) and two further theme days in the fall.
More to Come
A wide range of further events and workshops will take place in 2024 together with cooperation partners in Karlsruhe and Leipzig as well as in other German cities. Stiftung Forum Recht also reacts dynamically to topical issues and makes them the subject of its activities.
We look forward to welcoming you to one of our next events. You can also sign up to our monthly newsletter to make sure you don't miss any news! Please note that the newsletter is currently only available in German.