Constitutional Court heard Saxony-Anhalt's application against the Genetic Engineering Act

In 2005, the state government of Saxony-Anhalt appealed to the Federal Constitutional Court in a review procedure. The court found the Genetic Engineering Act unconstitutional, criticizing, among other things, the strict liability of farmers (Section 36a GenTG) as a special liability and the regulations on the site register (Sections 16a and 16b GenTG).
As part of the review proceedings, the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe (1 BvF 2/05) must examine the provisions of the Genetic Engineering Act for their constitutionality. The oral hearing on this matter took place on June 14, 2010.
The state government of Saxony-Anhalt had argued, among other things, regarding the strict liability of farmers when genetically modified organisms affect neighboring conventionally operating farms, that this constituted special liability and unilaterally shifted the risk onto genetic engineering users. Each field trial thus became an incalculable economic risk for the researchers and participating companies. The state government had expressed similar criticism of the public register of locations for areas with genetically modified plants. It argued that this encouraged politically motivated field destruction, leading to violations of professional freedom, property rights, and informational self-determination.
The decision in this matter is still pending and is not expected for several months. We will continue to report.

This publication can also be found on the website of the law firm Dr. Kauch .