Oral hearing of the Second Senate in Organstreit proceedings concerning the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the European Union and Canada on Tuesday, 13 October 2020, 12:00 a.m. (not 10:00 am, as previously announced)

Press Release No. 70/2020 of 07 August 2020

Reference: 2 BvE 4/16

2The Second Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court will conduct an oral hearing on

Tuesday, 13 October 2020, 12:00 am (not 10:00 am, as previously announced),
in the courtroom of the Federal Constitutional Court,
Schlossbezirk 3, 76131 Karlsruhe

on an application in Organstreit proceedings lodged by the parliamentary group in the German Bundestag DIE LINKE. The applicant claims that the Bundestag violated the Basic Law by adopting its position paper of 22 September 2016 (cf. Bundestag document 18/9663) in relation to the free trade agreement between the European Union and Canada (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement – CETA).

Legal background:

Pursuant to Art. 23(3) first sentence of the Basic Law, the Federal Government shall, before participating in legislative acts of the European Union, provide the Bundestag with an opportunity to state its position. The position paper at issue in these proceedings was adopted following a motion by the CDU/CSU and SPD parliamentary groups. In this paper, the Bundestag stated its position on a decision of the Council of the European Union regarding the signing of CETA and on a proposed decision of the Council on the provisional application of CETA. The applicant claims that the Bundestag, by adopting the position paper, did not discharge its responsibility with regard to European integration.
In light of the above, these Organstreit proceedings, apart from the question of admissibility, must clarify the constitutional requirements that the Bundestag must satisfy in the context of its responsibility with regard to European integration.

Please click here for the outline for the oral hearing.

Information for the general public

Persons wishing to attend the oral hearing or the pronouncement of the judgment are welcome but must register at the following address: 

Mr Stadtler
Postfach 1771, 76006 Karlsruhe, Germany
Phone: +49 721 9101-400
Telefax: +49 721 9101-461
E-Mail: besucherdienst@bundesverfassungsgericht.de

When registering, please indicate your surname, first name, date of birth, and contact data (a phone or telefax number or an email address). 

Please refer to the Federal Constitutional Court’s Data Protection Statement for information on the protection of personal data (Arts. 13 and 14 GDPR) in the context of visitor registration. The Data Protection Statement is available on the Federal Constitutional Court’s website under the heading “Data Protection”. You may also request a paper-based version of the Data Protection Statement.

The visitors’ seats will be allocated in the order in which the registrations are received.

Accreditation requirements for journalists

Accreditation

The accreditation procedure starts when this press release is published and ends on Thursday, 8 October 2020, at 12:00 noon. After this period, accreditation is no longer possible.

Please use the form provided for accreditation requests. The form must be filled in completely and signed. If applicable, a copy of the valid press card must be enclosed; this is only necessary for the first accreditation during the card’s term of validity. The accreditation request may be sent by email to presse@bundesverfassungsgericht.de or by fax to +49 721 9101-461. Accreditation requests sent to other email addresses or telefax numbers of the Court will not be considered.

Members of the Justizpressekonferenz Karlsruhe e.V. may send their accreditation requests to the Federal Constitutional Court’s Press Office without having to use the form.

Accreditation requests will be considered in the order in which they are received. If requests are received simultaneously, accreditation is awarded by drawing lots. A few days after the expiry of the deadline, the Federal Constitutional Court will notify the applicants by email whether their accreditation was successful or not.

Please refer to the Federal Constitutional Court’s Data Protection Statement for information on the protection of personal data (Arts. 13 and 14 GDPR) in the context of the accreditation procedure. The Data Protection Statement is available on the Federal Constitutional Court’s website under the heading “Data Protection”. You may also request a paper-based version of the Data Protection Statement.

Availability and allocation of seats

Due to current measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, only a total of 15 seats are available for media representatives on the press galleries inside and outside the courtroom. Seats are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Media representatives who cannot obtain a seat in the press gallery may follow the oral hearing in the press room or – provided seats are available– in the courtroom itself.

There will be an audio transmission from the courtroom to the press room. The press room is equipped with 18 desk workplaces. A limited number of power outlets for laptop computers is available. The Federal Constitutional Court cannot vouch for the capacity of mobile telephone and data networks.

Additional rules concerning the courtroom

It is not permissible to make phone calls, tweet or send other messages, retrieve digital data, or use the internet in any way within or from the courtroom. All electronic devices which can be used for these purposes, in particular mobile phones, laptop computers and tablet computers, may not be used in the courtroom. Media representatives may obtain permission to use computers in offline mode in the press gallery if it is ensured that the devices are not used for audio or image recording or for data transmission.

Taking photographs and filming; pooling

1. Taking photographs, filming, and audio recording is permissible until the presiding Justice of the Senate has established the presence of the parties to the proceedings. After that, photographers and camera teams must leave the courtroom level (including the foyer outside the courtroom and the press gallery). They may go to the reception room on the first floor. Pronouncements of judgments may be fully transmitted by audiovisual means.

2. Media pools will be set up for taking photographs and filming in the courtroom. Two television teams (a public and a private television station with a maximum of three cameras each) and six photographers (four agency photographers and two freelance photographers) will be admitted to the courtroom. The pool representatives undertake to supply, upon request, their photographs and films to other radio and television stations, as well as to photographic agencies.

Willingness to be a pool representative must be explicitly stated with the accreditation request. Pool representatives are appointed according to the order in which the accreditation requests are received. If requests are received simultaneously, the function of pool representative is allocated by drawing lots. The television stations, agencies, and photographers so chosen are free in determining the members of their teams.

3. When taking photographs and filming in the courtroom, photographers, camera operators, and other media representatives must ensure that the Senate has an unobstructed field of vision in all directions. Taking photographs, filming, and audio recording from behind the Justices’ bench is not permissible. Instructions to this end by the court staff must be complied with. Taking photographs and filming is only permitted with silent devices and without a flash.

4. After the end of the oral hearing or pronouncement of judgment, and during the lunch break, interviewing, filming, or photographing the parties to the proceedings or other individuals is permitted in the reception room on the first floor and the entrance hall on the ground floor.

Vehicles of radio and television teams; technicians

There are only a limited number of parking spaces available for SNG vehicles, editing vehicles, and OB vans. If accredited journalists require parking space, they must indicate so along with the accreditation request on the form provided. The parking spaces are allocated in the order in which the requests are received. The following information is required for the allocation of parking space: number plate, vehicle type, make, dimensions (L x W x H in metres), weight and, if applicable, request for the Federal Constitutional Court to provide electrical hook-up. 

The names, dates of birth, and ID card numbers of the accompanying technicians, and the vehicle data may be submitted after the request for parking space. The form provided must be used for this. This also applies to media represented by members of the Justizpressekonferenz. The form must be sent by email to the address presse@bundesverfassungsgericht.de, or by fax to +49 +721 9101-461, by Monday, 12 October 2020, 12:00 noon at the latest.

Media representatives with allocated parking space may set up the equipment on the day before the oral hearing from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm, and on the day of the oral hearing or the pronouncement of the judgment between 7:00 am and 9:00 am.

Setting up of studios

The Press Office must be consulted in advance should media representatives wish to set up a studio. Studios may be set up in the reception room on the first floor and in the entrance hall on the ground floor.

This information is based on § 17a of the Federal Constitutional Court Act in conjunction with the supplementary provisions laid down by the First and the Second Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court.