CPG Academy

German Public Law & the German Political & Constitutional System

8-12 October 2023, Faculty of Law, Thammasat University

hosted by

the German-Southeast Asian Center of Excellence for Public Policy and Good Governance (CPG), Faculty of Law, Thammasat University

in cooperation with the Asian Governance Foundation (AGF) and

the Hanns Seidel Foundation

Background

Germany – together with France the leading European power – is known for the doctrinal quality and practical success of its constitution and its administrative law alike. Both areas of public law have inspired lawmakers and scholars all around the world and continue to do.

Especially the German Constitution of 1949 can be considered as a rarely innovative document in constitutional comparison, one that introduced new features to the global laboratory of constitutionalism and further developed already available ones to a remarkable degree. Among them are – to name only a few – the absolute protection of human dignity, a robust protection of human rights, a thick and pervasive rule of law, an impressive Constitutional Court wielding the power to adjudicate constitutional complaints against court decisions, the concept of the constitutional basic structure as a distinct set of fundamental principles defining constitutional identity, the idea of a militant constitutionalism actively defending that constitutional identity, the principle of proportionality.

Likewise, German administrative law has unfolded a crucial impact for actual constitutional governance in Germany and a long-standing reputation of being particularly influential in the shaping of the general principles of European administrative law. Turning to Asia, German public law has also had a strong influence in Indonesia, Thailand, Korea, Taiwan, and Japan in particular.

In those countries, German constitutional principles, administrative systems, and judicial mechanisms have been studied and emulated to enhance the efficiency and transparency of public institutions, while German legal scholarship and academic exchange have facilitated knowledge transfer.

The Academy

Against this backdrop, the Academy offers a unique opportunity to obtain an in-depth introduction to the characteristics of German public law as well as valuable insights into how public law principles are pervasively enforced in state and society through mutually reinforcing institutions, structures, and mechanisms in the constitutional and political system to guarantee a functioning and stable democracy and rule of law together with a remarkably high degree of rights protection. This will strengthen the participants’ skills to utilize German public law as a reference to analyze developments in their respective national contexts.

To this end the Academy will cover the following topics, among others:

• the historical development of the German constitution,
• the defining core principles of the German constitutional order,
• the principle of proportionality,
• fundamental rights practice and doctrine,
• the German system of representative democracy,
• the organization, powers, and impact of the Federal Constitutional Court,
• local governance in Germany,
• principles of German administrative law,
• criminal law enforcement, and
• the relationship between German constitutional law and European law.

Venue & Accommodation

The Academy will be organized at the Faculty of Law, Thammasat University at its historical Tha Prachan Campus, located at the old town of Bangkok where it is surrounded by historical sites of notable importance to Thai constitutional memorial culture. In close vicinity are the National Museum, the National Theater, the National Gallery, the Siam Museum, well-known sightseeing spots such as the Grand Palace, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, the Temple of the Dawn, the famous Khao San Road – the traveler hub of Southeast Asia, jam-packed with raucous bars and restaurants as well as budget hostels – and the Chao Praya River inviting to nice evening cruises. The underground station Sanam Chai links this part of the city with Bangkok’s vibrant downtown, reachable within 10 minutes.

Participants who are not staying in Bangkok may obtain information from CPG about nearby hotels, guesthouses, and B&Bs.

The Academy is hosted by the German-Southeast Asian Center of Excellence for Public Policy and Good Governance (CPG) in cooperation with the Asian Governance Foundation (AGF) and the Hanns-Seidel Foundation (HSF).

• German-Southeast Asian Center of Excellence for Public Policy and Good Governance (‘CPG’)

CPG is an academic institute and think tank with a main office at the Faculty of Law of Thammasat University in Bangkok. Built upon a cooperation between the German universities of Frankfurt and Münster, and Thammasat University in Thailand, it is one of only five Centers of Excellence that were established worldwide – four in 2009 and one in 2015 – under the Excellence Initiative of the German Federal Government. CPG is funded by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Federal Foreign Office) and receives administrative support from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The Academy on German Public Law belongs to CPG’s core academic events and has been held since 2010.

• Asian Governance Foundation (AGF)

A charitable foundation under Thai law, the Asian Governance Foundation is CPG’s sister organization and its legal arm.

• Hanns-Seidel Foundation

The Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) is one of five German political foundations present in Bangkok. Aligned with the Christian Social Union, the political party that runs only in the federal state of Bavaria, the foundation engages in political education in Germany and in development cooperation abroad, running around 100 projects in 65 countries worldwide. The HSF office in Bangkok has been cooperating with CPG since 2010 in hundreds of joint activities since then.