Earlier this month a German state official clarified that circumcision for religious reasons is legal [JURIST report] in Berlin. The announcement came after a Jewish hospital in Berlin asked the justice minister to clarify the legality surrounding the circumcision procedure. The inquiry was in response to the June Cologne state court ruling. In July, responding to the controversial decision by the Cologne state court, the German government announced [JURIST report] that it would act swiftly to lift criminal sanctions imposed on circumcision. Spokesperson for Chancellor Angela Merkel [official website, in German], Steffen Seibert, said that without adequate protections for the practice of circumcision, Jewish and Muslim communities would not be able to live in Germany because the practice is so fundamental to the groups.