Courts - No success for Die Rechte before the Federal Constitutional Court
Karlsruhe/Dortmund (dpa/lnw) – The Party The Right fails in Karlsruhe with a constitutional complaint. The Party's constitutional complaint against assembly regulations at a vigil, where carrying and burning torches were prohibited, was not accepted for decision by the Federal Constitutional Court. The complaint was inadmissible. The Party had not sufficiently addressed the judicial decisions. (Case No.: 1 BvR 194/20, Decision of 21. March 2024).
Planned Vigil
The Party wanted to commemorate the anniversary of a church occupation in Dortmund in December 2016 with a vigil. The motto: "Bringing Light into the Darkness: Our Solidarity against Your Repression! Against the Criminalization of the Peaceful (...) Church Occupation".
During the church occupation, Party members had barricaded themselves in, set off pyrotechnics on the tower, and unfurled a banner with the inscription "Stop Islamization". This resulted in criminal consequences for the participants.
The authorities in Dortmund then prohibited the Right-wing extremists from carrying and burning torches at the vigil. Because they saw their freedom of assembly being violated, the Party took the matter to the Federal Constitutional Court.
Federal Constitutional Court raises doubts
According to the judges in Karlsruhe, the Party did not cast doubt on the fact that it intended to refer to National Socialism with the vigil and torches, as the administrative courts had noted in the first and second instances in North Rhine-Westphalia. In this context, it could remain open whether the right to freedom of expression was correctly applied to the assembly motto.
The Federal Constitutional Court at least expresses doubts about the decision of the courts. Since the constitutional complaint was inadmissible, Karlsruhe did not have to clarify this point.
According to the information of the NRW Constitutional Protection Authority, the State Branch of the Party The Right dissolved itself in January 2023. Together with representatives of the NPD, former Party members formed the Kreisverband Heimat Dortmund.
Federal Constitutional Court Statement
The Party's vigil in Dortmund, intended to commemorate past actions and show solidarity, was met with assembly regulations prohibiting the carrying and burning of torches. This led to a constitutional complaint to the Federal Constitutional Court in Germany, but the complaint was deemed inadmissible due to insufficient address of judicial decisions. The Party had planned to use torches as a symbol, potentially referencing historical associations with National Socialism, a fact acknowledged by the courts in North Rhine-Westphalia. Despite these doubts, the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe did not have to clarify these points as the complaint was not accepted for decision. The Party The Right, facing criminal consequences from previous actions, sought to uphold their right to assembly and freedom of expression, sparking debate regarding the balance between these rights and potential symbolism of specific actions.
