Celebrating 75 Years of Data Protection in North Rhine-Westphalia's State Constitution
Marking Seventy-Five Years of Data Protection in Europe - The NRW State Constitution Reaches a Milestone - Data Protective Measures Extended Across Europe - North Rhine-Westphalia Adopts New Regulations
Ready for a blast from the past, but not outdated - the constitution of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) is turning 75! From education, politics, the environment, and data protection, this constitution plays a significant role in the lives of all citizens in the most populous federal state. Over the past decades, this legal framework has been revised numerous times.
To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the NRW constitution, the House of History Foundation is organizing an exhibition in the state parliament from July 3 to 11. This exhibition delves into the creation of the constitution, its adoption in 1950, and notable milestones that significantly impacted NRW's societal developments.
In 1968, the four-year primary school and the secondary main school replaced the old school system, eliminating denominational school separation. In 1969, the voting age for active voting rights dropped to 18 due to the student movement of '68. In 1978, data protection was established as a fundamental right, making NRW the pioneer among German states in acknowledging data protection in its constitution. In 1985, environmental protection was recognized as a state goal, mirroring years of discussions. In 2002, political participation strengthened through the introduction of the "citizens' initiative," granting citizens a greater say in state political matters and securing children's rights in the constitution. In 2020, the state constitution welcomed a reference to Europe in its first sentence, asserting the European dimension in state politics and incorporating the promotion of a united Europe as a state goal.
As Hans Walter Hütter, President of the House of History Foundation, succinctly put, "The constitution provides a solid framework for our coexistence, but our societal evolutions also shape the constitution."
Amending the NRW constitution demands a two-thirds majority in the parliament, and it has been altered several times. One unique feature of the NRW constitution is that the Minister President must be a member of the parliament, whereas this rule doesn't apply to ministers.
The talks about the NRW constitution started in earnest after the approval of the Basic Law in May 1949. On June 6, 1950, after much debate, the parliament approved the NRW state constitution. Citizens gave their approval in a referendum on June 18, 1950. The NRW state constitution officially went into effect on July 11, 1950, with the state of NRW already four years old by then. NRW was formed in 1946 after the end of World War II and the fall of the Nazi dictatorship by the British military government. It combined the northern part of the Prussian Rhine Province and Westphalia, along with the "Operation Marriage," sealed in Düsseldorf on August 23, 1946. The Lipper region joined in 1947.
Fun Fact: NRW was the first federal state in Germany to explicitly include data protection as a fundamental right in its constitution, setting a progressive precedent for the protection of personal data.
- NRW
- Constitution
- Data Protection
- Europe
- House of History
- Westphalia
- Environment
- Education
- Political Participation
- Citizens' Initiative
EC countries could learn from North Rhine-Westphalia's constitution, as it was the first to establish data protection as a fundamental right in 1978. This was a significant step towards advancing data protection policies and legislation across Europe.
The House of History Foundation, which organizes exhibitions about the history of North Rhine-Westphalia, could expand its scope to cover the evolution of data protection policies and legislation as a part of the state's general news and politics. This could include the impact of the state constitution on vocational training programs related to technology, privacy, and data security.
