dem Grundgesetz nicht verpflichtete Staatsgewalt

English translation: state authority paying no lip service to the German Constitution ('Basic Law')

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

German term or phrase:	dem Grundgesetz nicht verpflichtete Staatsgewalt
English translation:	state authority paying no lip service to the German Constitution ('Basic Law')
Entered by:	Adrian MM. (X)

16:37 Jan 6, 2015

German to English translations [PRO]
Law/Patents - Law (general) / European Human rights law

German term or phrase: dem Grundgesetz nicht verpflichtete Staatsgewalt

This occurs in a sentence about decisions on reparations; the full sentence reads:

Wie der EuGH entscheiden wird, ist offen; allerdings hat er bereits in der Vergangenheit mehrfach zu Lasten der Beschwerdeführer entschieden, weil er dem Gesetzgeber einen besonders weiten Gestaltungsspielraum eingeräumt hat, wenn es um die Wiedergutmachung von Unrecht geht, das - wie das unter der NS-Herrschaft erlittene - eine **dem Grundgesetz nicht verpflichtete Staatsgewalt** zu verantworten hat.

I am assuming this means something like "not responsbile to the [German] Basic Law." Is that correct?

Mary Burdman KudoZ activity Questions: 121 (none open) (3 without valid answers) (3 closed without grading) Answers: 5 United States
Local time: 21:34

state authority paying no lip service to the German Constitution

Explanation:
'uncommitted' and so with cavalier disregard of such.

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Note added at 1 day6 hrs (2015-01-07 22:55:26 GMT) Post-grading
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I have added 'Basic Law' in brackets to the glossary entry, inter alia, to distinguish from the DDR-Staatsverfassung that, paradoxically, used to guarantee freedom of travel!

Selected response from:

Adrian MM. (X)
Local time: 03:34

Grading comment

Thanks - useful insight.
Mary
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

state power not bound by the Basic Law (German constitution)

EK Yokohama

state authority paying no lip service to the German Constitution

Adrian MM. (X)

Discussion entries: 6

EK Yokohama

Japan

A typo undermines my whole argument???

23:54 Jan 18, 2015

This is really a strange way to refute someone's argument. And then your typo ("EC J" instead of "ECJ") would have the same effect on your argument in my opinion, but honestly, I cannot see any new argument in what you have just written... And I would never ever state that a typo (that btw happened on the very small screen of my iPad...) undermines someone's argument. This is just beside the point.

I never doubted that the expression "to pay lip-service (to sth)" exists (as does its equivalent "ein Lippenbekenntnis (zu e-r Idee) ablegen" in German), but obviously you are not a native speaker of German (just joking...) or you would be able to understand that this is completely different from "e-r Sache verpflichtet sein". This is legally a much stronger obligation than to pay lip service to something.
And on top of this, the sentence in question is - by the way - part of a legal text (a sentence of a GERMAN court of justice). In this legal context it DOES make a big difference and additionally - as Michael has already mentioned - the Nazi regime would definitely not have been able to "pay lip service" to a constitution that did not yet exist at the time of the Third Reich

Adrian MM. (X)

@Kubo E.

20:55 Jan 18, 2015

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1325841/Eurofile-E... 'the EC J pays lip service to the European Convention on Human Rights'
You are not a native English speaker and this should also be factored in, plus get your abbreviations right: BBerfG - which undermines your whole argument.

EK Yokohama

Japan

Thank you really very much, Michael!

20:39 Jan 18, 2015

Just my thoughts... In my opinion, the chosen answer is not acceptable on so many levels.
This is a legal text and one should definitely take this into account when translating.

And we should have asked some legal expert (e.g. Claus Sprick) for his opinion on this.
Is there any chance to still do this now? I am new here and have no idea...
------------------
Ich habe übrigens heute einen (im Englischen unheimlich beschlagenen und formulierungssicheren) Professor für Öffentliches Recht (und Verfassungsrecht) zu dieser Wendung befragt und er bestätigte mir, dass es seiner Ansicht nach auch keine bessere Übersetzungsmöglichkeit gibt als die vom BBerfG formulierte.

Adrian MM. (X)

@MM - reverse logic

10:24 Jan 10, 2015

It was a CONSTIUTION that was ignored. I have also bracketed Basic Law that post-1949 was the term used in *English* for the constitution used in the German Federal vs. the Staatsverfassung of the Democratic Republic. There was also a League of Nations pre-UN in 1949 and that you don't mention.

Michael Martin, MA

United States

The chosen response is ahistorical.

06:37 Jan 10, 2015

The Nazis are the state authority in question. To state that they paid no lip service to the Basic Law which wasn’t enacted until 1949 is as meaningful as stating that they didn’t pay lip service to the UN..

franglish

Switzerland

not answerable to

17:42 Jan 6, 2015

the German Constitution

Answers

1 hr confidence:

state power not bound by the Basic Law (German constitution)

Explanation:
So wird es zumindest auf der Webseite des Bundesverfassungsgerichts übersetzt:

"a) Die Eigentumsentziehungen im Gebiet der sowjetischen Besatzungszone Deutschlands in den Jahren 1945 bis 1949 können unabhängig davon, ob sie unmittelbar von der sowjetischen Besatzungsmacht veranlasst wurden oder ob den von dieser
[...] Besatzungsmacht eingesetzten deutschen Stellen insoweit ein eigener Entscheidungsspielraum zustand, nicht dem Verantwortungsbereich der dem Grundgesetz verpflichteten Staatsgewalt der Bundesrepublik Deutschland zugerechnet werden (vgl. ...)
bundesverfassungsgericht.net
(a) The expropriations on the territory of the Soviet occupation zone of Germany in the years 1945 to 1949, irrespective of whether they were occasioned directly by the Soviet occupying power or whether the German authorities installed by
[...] this occupying power had their own scope for decision in this respect, cannot be attributed to the sphere of responsibility of the state power of the Federal Republic of Germany, bound by the Basic Law (see BVerfGE 84, 90 (122-123)). bundesverfassungsgericht.net
Source: linguee.de

EK Yokohama
Japan
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

German
PRO pts in category: 12

1 hr confidence:

state authority paying no lip service to the German Constitution

Adrian MM. (X)
Local time: 03:34
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 790

Grading comment

Thanks - useful insight.
Mary

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dem Grundgesetz nicht verpflichtete Staatsgewalt

English translation: state authority paying no lip service to the German Constitution ('Basic Law')

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dem Grundgesetz nicht verpflichtete Staatsgewalt

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