Oral hearing in the proceedings concerning the “Increase of the absolute upper limit to public funding allocated to all political parties combined” and the requirements for proper legislative procedure
on 4 and 5 May, 10:00 a.m.

Press Release No. 21/2021 of 09 March 2021

Reference: 2 BvF 2/18, 2 BvE 5/18

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

Tuesday, 4 May 2021, 10:00 a.m., and Wednesday, 5 May 2021, 10:00 a.m.,
at the Messe Karlsruhe, dm-arena, Messeallee 1, 76287 Rheinstetten

on an application lodged by 216 members of the German Bundestag belonging to the parliamentary groups Bündnis 90/DIE GRÜNEN, DIE LINKE and Freie Demokratische Partei (FDP) for abstract judicial review proceedings (2 BvF 2/18) of Art. 1 of the Act to amend the Political Parties Act and other Laws of 10 July 2018 (Federal Law Gazette, Bundesgesetzblatt – BGBl I p. 1116) as well as on an application in Organstreit proceedings (2 BvE 5/18) lodged by the parliamentary group Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in the German Bundestag claiming that the Bundestag had violated the rights of the AfD as a parliamentary group in the way it conducted the legislative procedure in respect of the Act.

Legal background:

The annual maximum amount of public funding that may be allotted to all political parties combined (absolute upper limit), which implements a decision of the Second Senate of 9 April 1992 (Decisions of the Federal Constitutional Court, Entscheidungen des Bundesverfassungsgerichts – BVerfGE 85, 264 ff.) and is laid down in §18(2) first sentence of the Political Parties Act (Parteiengesetz – PartG), was fixed at EUR 190 million for the year 2018 by Art. 1 of the abovementioned Act. This constitutes a raise of over EUR 24 million compared to the amount that would have been the upper limit without the amendment. This is challenged in the application for judicial review, which claims, in particular, a violation of the principle of freedom from interference by the state (Staatsfreiheit) that is rooted in Art. 21(1) of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz – GG). An application lodged by 30 current or former members of the AfD parliamentary group to join these proceedings was declared inadmissible by the Second Senate in its Order of 3 November 2020 (2 BvF 2/18).

In the Organstreit proceedings (2 BvE 5/18), the AfD parliamentary group claims in particular that the German Bundestag violated its rights of participation in the parliamentary process, given how the legislative procedure in respect of the aforementioned Act was conducted, and its right to mobilise opposition groups in society in respect of publicly significant legislative procedures. The AfD parliamentary group claims that it was given insufficient time to engage with the Act so as to prepare for the deliberations on it and to build public pressure. Applications for a preliminary injunction lodged by the AfD parliamentary group seeking the suspension of the implementation of the Act were dismissed by the Second Senate in its Order of 12 March 2019 (2 BvQ 91/18) given that the applications sought remedies not available in Organstreit proceedings.

The oral hearing will focus, in particular, on clarifying the requirements for the course of legislative procedures arising from the participation rights of a parliamentary group and the extent to which the raise in the absolute maximum amount is compatible with the principle of freedom from interference by the state applicable to political parties under Art. 21(1) GG.

The outline of the oral hearing can be accessed here.

Information for the general public

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

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

When registering, please provide your name, first name, date of birth, and contact details (a phone or fax 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 copy of the data protection statement.

Seats will be allocated in the order in which registrations are received.

Accreditation requirements for journalists

Accreditation

The accreditation procedure starts when this press release is published and ends on Thursday, 29 April 2021, 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 request made during the card’s period 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 any other email address or fax number 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 copy of the data protection statement.

Availability and allocation of seats

A number of seats that still has to be determined will be made available to media representatives in the court room.

Further information on available seats and on an audio transmission from the courtroom to a separate press room as well as additional information on the allocation of seats will be published separately.

Additional rules concerning the courtroom

It is not permissibleto 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, laptops and tablets, may not be used in the courtroom. Media representatives may obtain permission to use computers in offline mode 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 crews must leave the courtroom level. They may go to a separate room that will be available. Pronouncements of judgments may be fully transmitted by audiovisuell means.

2. Media pools will be set up for taking photographs and filming in the courtroom. Two television crews (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 in 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 Justices have an unobstructed view in all directions. Entering the area behind the Justices’ bench is not permitted. Instructions to this end by the court staff must be complied with. Taking photographs and filming is only permitted with low-noise devices and without a flash.

4. After the end of the oral hearing or the pronouncement of the judgment and during the lunch break, interviewing, filming, or photographing the parties to the proceedings or other individuals will be possible solely in particularly allocated areas.

Vehicles of radio and television crews; 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 requests are received. The following information is required for the allocation of parking space: number plate, vehicle type, make, dimensions (length x width x height 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. This also applies to media represented by members of the Justizpressekonferenz. The form must be sent by email to presse@bundesverfassungsgericht.de, or by telefax to +49 721 9101-461, by Monday, 3 May 2021, 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 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and on the day of the oral hearing or the pronouncement of the judgment between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m.

Potential changes to these rules and additions made in this request concerning to the oral hearing of the Second Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court on Tuesday, 4 May 2021 and Wednesday, 5 May 2021 at the Messe Karlsruhe, Messeallee 1, 76287 Rheinstetten will be published separately.

Setting up of studios

The press office must be consulted in advance if media representatives wish to set up a studio. To do so, exclusively allocated areas in the fair hall will be available.

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.