Constitutional appeal

The German constitutional court in Karlsruhe is meeting Wednesday to discuss the domestic use of the German military in campaigns to combat terrorism.

The court is once again debating the Aviation Security Act, which currently does not allow the shooting down of hijacked planes. Four years ago the Court ruled this would be unconstitutional.

However, the rest of the act which empowers the military to force aircraft into emergency landings with warning shots, has been allowed to remain on the books.

Hijacked airplanes

Now the German states of Hesse and Bavaria want to make an amendment to the basic law. Presently, the police are responsible for dealing with hijacked aircraft.

However, Hesse's interior minister Volker Bouffier, argues that the police do not have the means to adequately ward off a terror attack from the air.

Bouffier referred to an incident in 2003, when the pilot of a stolen plane threatened to fly into the European central bank in Frankfurt. At the time, nobody knew who was responsible for dealing with the threat.

Difficult questions

The Karlsruhe judges have taken the requests of the two states as cause for an in-depth examination of the law. The court felt compelled to reconsider in a constitutional examination "the extremely difficult question of the domestic deployment of the German Federal Armed Forces," said the chairman of the second senate, Andreas Voßkuhle.

The state of Hesse has a special interest in clarifying the rights and responsibilities of airspace defense, said Bouffier, given its proximity to Frankfurt, home to Europe's busiest airport and a susceptible terrorist target.

A ruling by the constitutional court is expected in three months.

smh/dpa/Reuters
Editor: Rob Turner