Germany's new 'Luftsicherheitsgesetz' (try to say that in one breath!) had threatened to authorise the German government to shoot down civilian passenger planes that were suspected of being used by terrorists as airborne weapons.
In a reaction to the September 11 attacks and a similar event in the Frankfurt banking district in 2003, the law authorised the use of a pre-emptive military 'Abschuss' in order to avoid an attack on civilians on the ground.
However in November of last year, a pilot and four other business people (regular civilian airline users themselves) applied to Germany's Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe for the law to be deemed unconstitional.
The decision handed down on Wednesday of last week from the Erste Senat des Bundesverfassungsgerichts deemed the law to be a breach of Artikel 1 (right to human dignity) and Artikel 2 (right to life). al
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