JURIST Supported by the University of Pittsburgh
PAPER CHASE NEWSBURSTDigest RSS feedFull RSS feed
Serious law. Primary sources. Global perspective.


Wednesday, February 15, 2006

German high court overturns law on shooting down hijacked planes
Tom Henry at 9:26 AM ET

[JURIST] Germany's Federal Constitutional Court [official website in German] ruled Wednesday that a law permitting the German air force to shoot down hijacked planes [JURIST report] to prevent a suicide attack was unconstitutional [press release, in English; decision, in German], reasoning that the government lacks the right to take the lives of passengers in an attempt to save lives on the ground.

German ministers pushed through the legislation [BBC report] in late 2003 after a pilot created panic in Frankfurt by circling the city in a small plane and threatening to crash it into the European Central Bank tower. Last year a solo pilot crashed a similar plane in front of Germany's parliament building in an apparent suicide. Reuters has more. Deutsche Welle has local coverage.






Link |  | print | subscribe | RSS feeds | latest newscast | Facebook page

For more legal news check the Paper Chase Archive...


LATEST LEGAL NEWS

 New Bolivia law allows president to run for third term
4:08 PM ET, May 21

 Guatemala court voids ex-dictator Rios Montt's genocide conviction
3:37 PM ET, May 21

 UN urges Afghanistan to approve women's rights legislation
9:02 AM ET, May 21

 click for more...

Get JURIST legal news delivered daily to your e-mail!

LATEST FORUM

The War on Terror and the Need for Muslim Support
DOMESTIC
Faisal Kutty
Valparaiso University Law School

ABOUT

Paper Chase is JURIST's real-time legal news service, powered by a team of 30 law student reporters and editors led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As an educational service, Paper Chase is dedicated to presenting important legal news and materials rapidly, objectively and intelligibly in an accessible, ad-free format.

CONTACT

Paper Chase welcomes comments, tips and URLs from readers. E-mail us at JURIST@jurist.org