14 Art. 13 GG: Inviolability of the Home

Abstract

This chapter deals with the inviolability of the home, a fundamental right guaranteed by Art. 13 of the Grundgesetz (GG). Art. 13 GG offers protection to a spatially defined area in which one may do as he or she pleases undisturbed and unobserved. It thus secures the spatial aspect of the ‘right to be left alone’ which the Federal Constitutional Court created in the Microcensus Decision. The Court's ruling in a case concerning acoustic surveillance of the home illustrates the liberal manner by which this right has been interpreted. The chapter first examines the Court's jurisprudence regarding the scope of protection for the right of inviolability of the home, focussing on cases relating to express dry cleaning and tenants' property, before discussing the question of interference with this right, along with the constitutional justification of such interferences, especially with regard to search of a home.