{{italic title}} '''''Vogt v. Germany''''' (1996) 21 EHRR 205, (17851/91) was a case decided by the [[European Court of Human Rights]] (ECHR) in 1995. The case concerned a Mrs. Vogt who was suspended from her teaching job at a public secondary school because of her past membership in the [[German Communist Party]]. The ECHR ruled that this application of [[Berufsverbot]] violated provisions in the [[European Convention on Human Rights]] relating to [[freedom of expression]] and [[freedom of association]].
==Facts== Mrs. D. Vogt joined the [[German Communist Party]] in 1972 (Para. 18). In 1977, she became a language teacher at a public secondary school and, correspondingly, a probationary civil servant. In 1979, she was appointed a [[Beamter|permanent public servant]] (Para. 9). In 1986, Mrs. Vogt was suspended based on [[Berufsverbot]] (Para. 16). The German courts considered her dismissal to be legal, considering GCP's aims anti-constitutional and active membership in GCP incompatible with a civil servant's duty of loyalty (Para. 18–23).
In 1990, [[Lower Saxony]] cancelled its decree on employment of extremists in the civil service (Para. 32.), and, in 1991, Mrs. Vogt was reinstated (Para. 24). In 1991, an application was lodged before the [[European Commission of Human Rights]] (Para. 1.). In 1992, it was declared admissible. In 1993, the Commission held in its report, by 13 votes to 1, that Articles 10 ([[freedom of expression]]) and 11 ([[freedom of association]]) of the [[European Convention on Human Rights]] were violated, but the complaints under Article 14 (ban of [[discrimination]] in enjoying Convention rights) were not necessary to examine (Para. 95–97 of the Report).
==Judgment== The Grand Chamber of the ECtHR held in 1995, by 10 votes to 9, that Articles 10 and 11 of the [[European Convention on Human Rights|ECHR]] were violated, considering the dismissal disproportionate to the legitimate aim pursued (Para. 68). The court underlined that {{quote|Mrs Vogt was a teacher of German and French in a secondary school, a post which did not intrinsically involve any security risks. [...] [T]here is no evidence that Mrs Vogt herself, even outside her work at school, actually made anti-constitutional statements or personally adopted an anti-constitutional stance. [...] [T]he DKP had not been banned by the Federal Constitutional Court and [...], consequently, the applicant's activities on its behalf were entirely lawful.|''Vogt v. Germany'', Grand Chamber Judgment, Para. 60}} It also held unanimously that it was not necessary to examine the case under Article 14 of the Convention taken in conjunction with Article 10, since this complaint was not raised by Mrs Vogt at court.
Judges Bernhardt, Gölcüklü, Matscher, Loizou, Mifsud Bonnici, Gotchev, Jungwiert, [[Pranas Kūris|Kūris]] and Jambrek filed dissenting opinions, finding no violation in the case. Judge Mifsud Bonnici also annexed a statement to the judgment.
The Court reserved the question of awarding just satisfaction and struck the case out of the list in 1996, after a settlement between the applicant and the government.
==See also== *[[European labour law]] *[[German labour law]]
==Notes== {{reflist|2}}
==External links== *[http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/view.asp?action=html&documentId=665555&portal=hbkm&source=externalbydocnumber&table=F69A27FD8FB86142BF01C1166DEA398649 Admissibility decision] *[http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/view.asp?action=html&documentId=683541&portal=hbkm&source=externalbydocnumber&table=F69A27FD8FB86142BF01C1166DEA398649 Report] *[http://www.religlaw.org/template.php?id=2155 ECtHR judgment on the merits] *[http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/view.asp?action=html&documentId=695889&portal=hbkm&source=externalbydocnumber&table=F69A27FD8FB86142BF01C1166DEA398649 ECtHR judgment on striking the case on just satisfaction out of the list]
[[Category:Anti-communism in Germany]] [[Category:Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights]] [[Category:Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights]] [[Category:Civil services]] [[Category:European Court of Human Rights cases decided by the Grand Chamber]] [[Category:European Court of Human Rights cases involving Germany]] [[Category:1995 in case law]]