When the fundamental rights lecture turns into an oral hearing before the Federal Constitutional Court

As part of my lecture on Constitutional Law I (Fundamental Rights) at University of Bremen Law School, a constitutional moot court was held on Wednesday, January 31, 2024. The students simulated a constitutional court case on the constitutionality of the night-time exit restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic. Rik Manzke and Henri Bergeest took on the role of the President of the Federal Constitutional Court and gave a brief introduction to the case at the beginning. Irma Weyde and Jan Büsselmann were the legal representatives of the complainants, Antonia Figur and Amir-Mahdi Kamali the legal representatives of the Federal Government. The other students slipped into the role of the judges of the Federal Constitutional Court and, after their pleadings, asked the representatives questions about their constitutional arguments.

In the subsequent lecture, the case was discussed together and placed in the wider context of the role of constitutional jurisdiction in times of a pandemic. The idea of transforming the constitutional law lecture into a moot court, in which the students themselves become actors in constitutional law, comes from the legendary US professor Derrick Bell, whose innovative and activating teaching concept has been widely received.