Status Of Forces Agreement (Sofa) Germany

For each operation abroad, the status of the Bundeswehr is governed by a bilateral or multilateral agreement with the host country. If a person is sent to Germany for six months or more, he and his accompanying family, formally recognized by the employer – MOD, are considered a SOFA status. Although the SOFA determines your legal status, it is important to understand that German law applies to U.S. personnel, both on and off the board. U.S. facilities are not American soil. In addition, while there are many similarities between German and American legislation, there are also many important differences. For example, spanking or paddling children is prohibited under German criminal law as a means of punishing disobedience. German law considers it a “physical punishment”, which makes it synonymous with child abuse. . German civil law is also quite different from what most Americans are familiar with.

Read on to learn more about the main differences between Germany and the United States. And if you have any questions, please contact the Legal Center on Kelley Barracks. Also be sure to participate in the legal description of machining that is offered weekly at the Panzer Barracks of the Central Processing Facility. The political issue of SOFAs is complicated by the fact that many host countries have mixed feelings about foreign bases on their soil, and calls to renegotiate SOFA are often combined with calls for foreign troops to withdraw completely. While the United States and host countries generally agree on what a crime is, many U.S. observers believe that the host country`s justice systems give defendants much weaker protection than the United States and that the courts of the host country may be subject to popular pressure to render a guilty verdict; In addition, U.S. soldiers who have been sent abroad should not be forced to give up the rights conferred on them by the Bill of Rights. On the other hand, observers from the host country, who have no local equivalent to the Bill of Rights, often believe that it is an unequivocal excuse to demand special treatment and that they resemble the extraterritorial agreements demanded by Western countries during colonialism.

A host country where such a mindset is prevalent, South Korea, itself has strength in Kyrgyzstan and has negotiated a SOFA that grants its soldiers full immunity from prosecution by Kyrgyz authorities for any crime, far beyond the privileges that many South Koreans have challenged in their country`s SOFA with the United States. [11] As a newly arrived member of our community, it is important to understand your legal status in Germany and your protection. For example, Germans who live in Germany, with no connection to the U.S. military or government, are German citizens without special status. Americans who live in Germany and do not have an army or the United States. The last category is Americans who travel less than six (6) months in Germany, are considered short-term tourists. When discussing the status of the armed forces, a distinction should be made between the status of foreign armed forces in Germany and the status of the Bundeswehr abroad. Some items are rationed because a separate agreement between Britain and Germany explicitly limits the amount of cigarettes and tobacco, whiskey, gin and coffee a person can buy duty-free, which is why your NAAFI ration card must be filled out every time you buy these products. In order not to exceed the deduction of these goods, they can also not be purchased tax-free in external stores: for example, if you make your weekly purchases at REWE with a tax free form, you can not buy rationed items (for example. B a glass of coffee or a pack of cigarettes). . .

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