Resolution - Hamburg initiative against gendering fails in court
The People's Initiative "End of Gender Language in Administration and Education" failed in its attempt to postpone its popular initiative before the Hamburg Constitutional Court. The court stated that the request for a corresponding interim order was inadmissible. The People's Initiative aimed to achieve, through provisional legal protection, that its own initiated popular initiative be postponed to a time after the Hamburg school holidays.
The court justified its decision on a Tuesday, among other things, by stating that it could not bring about the desired legal consequence. Since the People's Initiative itself had filed the application for the popular initiative on April 10, the legal process was legally prescribed. For a constitutional ruling on the scheduling, there was therefore no room, the court declared. And an order to hold referendums only outside of vacation periods was not apparent.
Initiative determined the proceedings itself
It is not relevant whether the populace rejected the proposed further extension of the consideration period by the People's Initiative to the detriment. Since the initiative did so, it set the proceedings in motion itself and prevented any influence on the time course.
The People's Initiative's assertion that the parliament had waived a deadline extension so that the popular initiative would fall within the school holidays was not proven, the judges emphasized. The further criticism of the People's Initiative, that the red-green Senate had not complied with the statutory mandate to enable an online vote, could also not lead to an interim order.
66,000 signatures required for popular initiative
For a popular initiative, 66,000 signatures must be collected within three weeks. This is significantly easier to achieve outside of vacation periods, as many families are traveling during this time. According to the People's Initiative, the popular initiative against gender must begin, in accordance with the requirements of the populace, on July 18 in parallel with the school holidays. The signature collection itself would start on August 8 and run until August 28 - the last day of the summer holidays.
The People's Initiative aims to make the Hamburg Administration, educational institutions, and municipal companies renounce gender dots and colons in words. In the text of the initiative for the populace, it states that the Senate should instruct these institutions that the German-language official, written, or electronic communication and publications should be carried out in accordance with the official regulations, which the Council for German Orthography recommends.
- The Hamburg Constitutional Court, in their Tuesday ruling, deemed the request for an interim order to postpone the People's Initiative "End of Gender Language in Administration and Education" inadmissible.
- Despite the People's Initiative filing the application for the popular initiative on April 10, initiating the legal process, the court stated that there was no room for a constitutional ruling on the scheduling due to the legally prescribed legal process.
- The People's Initiative had set a goal to collect signatures for the popular initiative after the Hamburg school holidays, alleging that it would be easier to achieve outside of vacation periods.
- In the justification of their decision, the judges emphasized that the People's Initiative's assertion about the parliament waiving a deadline extension and the red-green Senate not complying with the statutory mandate for an online vote were not proven.
- Upon success, the People's Initiative seeks to influence the Hamburg Administration, educational institutions, and municipal companies to abstain from using gender dots and colons in their communication and publications, in alignment with the Council for German Orthography's recommendations.
