Page "Aircraft hijacking" Paragraph 30

In January 2005, a federal law came into force in Germany – the Luftsicherheitsgesetz – that allowed " direct action by armed force " against a hijacked aircraft to prevent a 9 / 11-type attack.

However, in February 2006 the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany struck down these provisions of the law, stating such preventive measures were unconstitutional and would essentially be state-sponsored murder, even if such an act would save many more lives on the ground.

The main reasoning behind this decision was that the state would effectively be taking the lives of innocent hostages in order to avoid a terrorist attack.

The Court also ruled that the Minister of Defense is constitutionally not entitled to act in terrorism matters, as this is the duty of the state and federal police forces.

See the German Wikipedia entry, or