A former judge of the German Federal Constitutional Court, Gabriele Britz, has emphasized the need for the government to set a limit on its discretion when considering a ban on the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Britz, who served as a judge in Karlsruhe from 2011 to 2023, stressed that the government’s freedom to decide on a ban is not limitless. She believes that if the conditions for a ban are met and the government has already attempted to address the issues through political means, then a ban should be considered.
Britz’s comments come in response to the government’s delay in submitting a ban application to the Federal Constitutional Court. The government has been criticized for its inaction, with some arguing that the AfD’s anti-democratic and extremist views pose a threat to the country’s democratic order.
The judge also disagreed with the views of German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, who recently stated that the government’s decision not to submit a ban application was justified due to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution’s assessment of the AfD as “secured right-wing extremist.” Britz argued that the office’s assessment, which found that the AfD attacks the principle of human dignity but not democracy and the rule of law, does not necessarily mean that the conditions for a ban are not met.
According to Britz, the Federal Constitutional Court has repeatedly emphasized that it is sufficient for one of the three elements of the free democratic basic order to be at risk, not all three. She believes that the AfD’s anti-democratic and extremist views, regardless of whether they also attack democracy and the rule of law, are sufficient to justify a ban.
As a professor at the Goethe University in Frankfurt, Britz has been critical of the government’s inaction and has called for a more decisive approach to addressing the AfD’s threat to the country’s democratic order.