Editing President of Germany (section)

===Oath===
After taking office the president must take the following oath, stipulated by Article 56 of the Basic Law, in a joint session of the Bundestag and the [[German Bundesrat|Bundesrat]] (it is the only event that demands such a joint session constitutionally). The religious references may optionally be omitted.

<blockquote>I swear that I will dedicate my efforts to the well-being of the German people, promote their welfare, protect them from harm, uphold and defend the Basic Law and the laws of the Federation, perform my duties conscientiously and do justice to all. (So help me God.)<ref>{{cite book|title=Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland|pages=Article 56|no-pp=true }}</ref></blockquote>

German constitutional law does not consider oaths of office as ''constitutive'' but only as ''affirmative''. This means that the president does not have to take the oath at the moment of entering office in order to be able to exercise its constitutional powers. In practice, the oath is usually administered during the first days or weeks of a president's term on a date convenient for a joint session of the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. Nevertheless, in theory a persistent refusal to take the oath is considered to be an impeachable offence by legal scholars.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Amtseid à la Obama – Verfassungsrechtliche Grundfragen und Probleme des Amtseids nach dem Grundgesetz |journal = JURA – Juristische Ausbildung |issn=0170-1452 |last= Haensle |first=Walter|date=2009|volume=31|issue=9|pages=670–676|doi=10.1515/JURA.2009.670|s2cid = 15442740 |url=https://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/25798/1/Haensle_Amtseid.pdf}}</ref> If a president is re-elected for a second consecutive term, he does not take the oath again.