Germany
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany does not explicitly guarantee the right to adequate food.
The Federal Republic of Germany has become a State party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in 1973 by way of ratification. It has acceded to the Optional Protocol (OP-ICESCR) in 2023.
CONSTITUTIONAL RECOGNITIONS OF THE RIGHT TO ADEQUATE FOOD
National status of international obligations
Article 25: “Primacy of international law - The general rules of international law shall be an integral part of federal law. They shall take precedence over the laws and directly create rights and duties for the inhabitants of the federal territory.”
Other pertinent provisions for the realization of the right to adequate food
Article 1: “(1) Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority. (2) The German people therefore acknowledge inviolable and inalienable human rights as the basis of every community, of peace and of justice in the world.”
INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) – 1966
Status: Ratification (1973)
Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) – 1979
Status: Ratification (1985)
Legislation and policies recognizing the right to adequate food
Considering that the human right to adequate food can be implemented through a variety of legal and policy actions, we invite you to visit the FAOLEX Country Profile database for a wide-ranging collection of measures that have been taken at national level. Some of the documents you may find are legislation and policies that touch on a number of relevant Guidelines, such as those on Access to resources and assets (Guideline 8), Food safety and consumer protection (Guideline 9), Support for vulnerable groups (Guideline 13) and Natural and human-made disasters (Guideline 16).
