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highest duty and natural right of the parents, whose activities must be supervised by the authorities of the State.

121. By means of legislation, opportunities shall be provided for the bodily, mental and social development of illegitimate children, equal to those enjoyed by legitimate children.

122. Young people shall be protected against exploitation, as well as against moral, intellectual, or bodily neglect. Both State and community must undertake the necessary arrangements.

Protective measures of a compulsory character may only be imposed by virtue of a law.

123. All Germans have the right, without notification or special permission, to assemble peacefully and without arms. Open-air meetings may be made notifiable by a Federal law, and in case of immediate danger to public security may be forbidden.

124. All Germans have the right to form unions and societies, provided their objects do not run counter to the penal laws. This right cannot be restricted by preventive regulations, and applies equally to religious unions and

societies.

Every union is at liberty to acquire legal rights in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code. This right shall not be refused to a union on the ground of its being formed for political, social-political or religious objects.

125. The freedom and the secrecy of elections are guaranteed, details being determined by electoral laws.

126. Every German has the right of appeal in writing to the competent authorities or the representatives of the people, either for the presentation of petitions or the exposure of grievances. This right may be exercised by individuals, as well as by several persons in common.

127. Communities and municipal associations have the right of self-government, within the limits of the laws.

128. All citizens of the State without distinction are eligible for public offices-according to legal provisions, and their own qualifications and abilities.

All exceptional provisions forbidding the employment of women as officials are annulled.

The principles of official employment shall be regulated by Federal law.

129. The appointment of officials is made for life, unless otherwise determined by law. Pensions and provision for surviving dependants are legally regulated. The wellestablished rights of officials are inviolable. In actions for recovery of property the course of law is open to officials.

Officials may be provisionally removed from office, tem

porarily or finally retired, or transferred to another post with lower salary only under the provisions and forms legally determined.

In the case of any official judgment against a person, he shall be given an opportunity of lodging a complaint, with the possibility of a resumption of the proceedings. In an enquiry as to an official, entries of facts unfavourable to him shall not be produced until he has been given an opportunity of making a statement with regard to them. An official shall be allowed to examine his personal record.

The inviolability of well-established rights and access to the course of law in actions for recovery of property are guaranteed to professional soldiers. Otherwise their position. is regulated by Federal law.

130. Officials are servants of the public, not of a party. Freedom of political opinions and the free right of association are guaranteed to all officials.

Officials obtain special representation in accordance with a more detailed decision of a Federal law.

131. Should an official, in the exercise of public authority conferred upon him, neglect an official duty incumbent upon him in relation to a third party, the responsibility as a matter of principle falls upon the State, or the corporate body in whose service the official is acting. A counter-charge against the official is held in reserve. The regular course of law may not be excluded.

More detailed regulations are left to the proper legislative authorities.

132. It is the duty of every German to undertake the work of honorary posts according to the provisions of the laws.

133. All citizens of a State are bound, according to the provisions of the laws, to undertake personal service for the. State and the community.

Military service is organised in accordance with the terms of the Reichswehr law. This determines also how far various fundamental rights must be restricted for members of the armed forces to ensure the fulfilment of their duties and the maintenance of military discipline.

134. All citizens of the State, without distinction, contribute, in proportion to their means, to all public taxes, in accordance with the provision of the laws.

Section III.-Religion and Religious Bodies.

135. All inhabitants of the Federation enjoy full liberty of faith and of conscience. The undisturbed practice of religion is guaranteed by the Constitution, and is under State protection. The general laws of the State remain unaffected hereby.

136. Civil and political rights and duties are neither dependent upon nor restricted by the practice of religious freedom.

The enjoyment of civil and political rights, as well as admission to official posts, are independent of religious creed.

No one is bound to disclose his religious convictions. The authorities have the right to make enquiries as to membership of a religious body only when rights and duties depend upon it, or when the collection of statistics ordered by law requires it.

No one may be compelled to take part in any ecclesiastical act or ceremony, or to participate in religious practices, or to make use of any religious form of oath.

137. There is no State Church.

Freedom of association is guaranteed to religious bodies. There are no restrictions as to the union of religious bodies within the territory of the Federation.

Each religious body regulates and administers its affairs independently, within the limits of the general laws. It appoints its officials without the co-operation of the State, or of the civil community.

Religious bodies acquire legal rights in accordance with the general regulations of the civil code.

Religious bodies remain corporations with public rights in so far as they have been so up to the present. Equal rights shall be granted to other religious bodies upon application, if their constitution and the number of their members offer a

guarantee of permanence. Where several such religious bodies holding public rights combine to form one union this union becomes a corporation of a similar class.

Religious bodies forming corporations with public rights. are entitled to levy taxes on the basis of the civil tax-rolls, in accordance with the provisions of State law.

Associations adopting as their work the common encouragement of a world-philosophy shall be placed upon an equal footing with religious bodies.

So far as the execution of these provisions may require further regulation, this is the duty of States Legislatures.

138. State connections with religious bodies, depending upon law, agreement or special legal titles, are dissolved by State legislation. The principles for such action shall be laid down by the Federal Government.

Ownership and other rights of religious bodies and unions to their institutions, foundations and other property devoted to purposes of public worship, education or charity, are guaranteed.

139. Sundays and holidays recognised by the State shall remain under legal protection as days of rest from work and for the promotion of spiritual purposes.

140. The members of the armed forces shall be allowed the necessary free time for the performance of their religious duties.

141. Religious bodies shall have the right of entry for religious purposes into the army, hospitals, prisons, or other public institutions, so far as is necessary for the arrangement of public worship or the execution of pastoral offices, but every form of compulsion must be avoided.

Section IV.-Education and Schools.

142. Art, science, and the teaching of both, are free. The State guarantees their protection and participates in furthering them.

143. Provision shall be made for the education of the young by means of public institutions. The Federal Government, the States and all communities, shall co-operate in their organisation.

The training of teachers shall be regulated in a uniform manner for the whole Federation, in accordance with the principles generally applying to higher education.

Teachers in public schools have the rights and duties of State officials.

144. The whole system of education is under the supervision of the State, which may assign a share in such work to the communities. School inspection is carried out by chief officials who are trained experts.

145. School attendance is compulsory for all. This is provided for by elementary schools, with at least an eight years' course, followed by the continuation schools, with a course extending to the completion of the eighteenth year.

Instruction and all accessories are free of charge in the elementary and continuation schools.

146. The public system of education shall be thoroughly organised. Upon the basis of elementary schools common to all is constructed the system of secondary and higher education. The leading consideration for the complete organisation is the multiplicity of possible employments, and as regards the admission of a child into any particular school, its capacities and inclination, not the economic and social standing or the religious creed of its parents.

Upon the proposition of those entitled to education, however, elementary schools in accordance with their religious creed or philosophic views may be established within the communities so far as this does not lead to any restriction of regular school management, especially as regards the general sense of the first paragraph of this Article. The will of those entitled to education shall be taken into consideration as far 4 B

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as possible. The State Legislature determines further particulars, in accordance with the principles of a Federal law.

Public provision shall be made by the Federation, States and communities, for the admission of persons of small means to secondary and advanced courses; in particular, there shall be educational grants for the parents of children who are considered suitable for training in secondary and higher schools. up to the termination of such training.

147. Private schools, as a substitute for public schools. require the approval of the State, and are subject to State laws. Approval may be granted when the private schools are not inferior to the public schools in their educational aims and organisation, nor in the scholarly training of their staff: further, there must be no separation of pupils in connection with the respective means of their parents. Approval shall be refused when the economic and legal position of the teaching staff is not sufficiently assured.

Private elementary schools are permissible only when there is in a community no public elementary school corresponding to the religious creed or philosophic views of a minority of those entitled to education whose will is to be taken into consideration in accordance with Article 146. paragraph 2, or when the administrative authorities recognise a special educational interest.

Private preparatory schools are to be abolished.

For private schools not serving as substitutes for public schools the law in force is applicable.

148. In all schools it is important to aim at moral training, civic sentiment, personal and vocational fitness, in the spirit of German nationality, and the reconciliation of nations.

In public school teaching care must be taken not to wound the sensibilities of those holding different opinions.

The duties of citizenship and technical education are branches of instruction in the schools. Upon the completion of the period of school attendance every pupil receives a copy of the Constitution.

The system of national education, including national universities, shall be promoted by the Federation, the States and the communities.

149. Religious instruction is a regular subject in schools. with the exception of undenominational (secular) schools, and is imparted in accordance with the school regulations. Religious instruction is given in agreement with the principles of the religious body concerned, without prejudice to the rights of supervision of the State.

The imparting of religious instruction and the undertaking of ecclesiastical functions remain subject to the "manifestation of will" of the teachers-participation in branches of

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