Innerstaatliche Subjektivierung von staatsgerichtetem Völkerrecht

By virtue of Article 25 of the German Basic Law (Art. 25 GG), all general rules of international law are incorporated into domestic law and give rise to rights and duties for the inhabitants of the federal territory. Because individuals are granted rights and subjected to obligations without distinction, the central question arises whether all general rules of international law are capable of directly conferring rights and imposing obligations on individuals within the domestic sphere by way of a so-called extension of addressees ( Adressatenerweiterung ).
Carla Elisabeth Hack analyzes the domestic and international legal situation and subsequently assesses, in positive terms, a domestic extension of addressees for state-directed rules that have an individual dimension. This constitutive effect, however, does not apply without limitation; it is subject to the boundary of a specific individual nexus in the sense of being directed to individuals ( Individualgerichtetheit ). What is required is a close connection between the relevant general rule of international law and individual, highly ranked legal interests. The catalogue of criteria developed to concretize the concept of Individualgerichtetheit is applied in the field of international environmental law.
The author concludes that, with Article 25 GG, the Basic Law created a forward-looking mechanism for integrating international law and its developments effectively and directly into domestic law. The foundations for an effective subjectivized shift in addressees-translating state-directed international law into domestic law applicable to individuals-are likewise in place. However, the current stage of individual-oriented development in international environmental law does not yet permit a comprehensive extension of addressees in domestic law without undermining the intended congruence between national and international law.