Conditions imposed ex post facto must be specific

Against the background of a constitutional system based on the rule of law, administrative acts must be sufficiently specific in content. This sufficient specificity is required not only with respect to the addressee, but also with respect to the regulation made in the subject matter. The administrative act must be sufficiently clear, understandable, and free from internal contradictions. The specificity requirement is an indispensable characteristic of the legality of an administrative act. The subject matter of the case treated against this legal background is the action brought by the operator of the Philippsburg Nuclear Power Station (Units 1 and 2) before the Baden-Wuerttemberg Administrative Court against an ex post facto condition imposed by the competent Baden-Wuerttemberg regulatory authority - upon the instruction by the then Federal Minister for the Environment, Juergen Trittin - about the management of operation of these plants and, in the interlocutory proceedings about legal relief, the application filed for a suspensive effect of the action against the ex post facto condition. This application for restoration of the suspensive effect of the action to set aside the ex post factor condition succeeded. Weighing the pros and cons as prescribed in the Administrative Court Rules, the court finds the interest of the applicant to be preponderant and expresses doubt about the legality of the condition imposed as far as the requirements of specificity of administrative acts and other provisions in the Atomic Energy Act are concerned. No decision has as yet been taken on the main issue (action to set aside). (orig.)