b) Applicability of Art. 19(3) of the Basic Law by reason of the nature
of affected fundamental rights

67

4. Personal scope of protection for persons acting on behalf of foreign
legal entities (complainants nos. 6 and 8)

68

III. Complainants are directly and presently affected by the challenged
provisions

71

1. Directly affected

72

2. Presently affected

73

a) Sufficient probability of complainants being affected

74

b) Complainant no. 8 affected despite being a German citizen

75

IV. Subsidiarity

77

1. Standards

78

2. Application of the law to the present case

79

V. Time limit for lodging the constitutional complaint

81

1. Compliance with the time limit with regard to the amended provisions 82
2. Compliance with the time limit with regard to the unchanged provisions
VI. Admissibility in light of EU law

83
84

C. Merits I: Interference with fundamental rights
I. Binding effect of fundamental rights to foreign surveillance measures
carried out by the Federal Intelligence Service

86
87

1. Binding effect of fundamental rights linked to the exercise of German 88
state authority
a) Art. 1(3) of the Basic Law guaranteed without reservations

89

b) No restriction to the exercise of sovereign powers

90

c) Binding effect of fundamental rights afforded individuals abroad

92

2. Participation in the international community

93

a) Constitutional acknowledgement of human rights (Art. 1(2) of the
Basic Law)

94

b) European Convention on Human Rights

97

c) No intervention vis-à-vis other states

100

8/87

Select target paragraph3