Legal scholarship and jurisdiction in post-war Germany define “human dignity” in terms of constitutional-violation procedure. The scope of protection is defined negatively: evidence derives from the fact of its negation1 (e.g., the state-ordered execution of the mentally ill or Germany’s temporary departure from the ranks of civilised nations from 1933 to 1945). Thus, the treatment of a human being as the mere object of state, scientific, or economic action infringes the inviolability of human dignity. Relevant as it is to any interpretation, this specific historical background alone is insufficient. Above and beyond it, human dignity is “the very status of being, which ‘is’ independent of time and space, and which ‘should’ be realised through the law,”2 — a universal value on the level of impartiality and equality.