Over 1,000 German Jurists Call for Ban of AfD Party

More than 1,051 legal professionals in Germany, including lawyers, judges, and prosecutors, have signed an open letter demanding that the federal government and parliament initiate proceedings to ban the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. The request, coordinated by the Republican Lawyers Association (RAV), calls for the Federal Constitutional Court to declare the party unconstitutional. The number of signatories doubled in ten days, growing from an initial 500 in mid July.

The demand is based on a legal opinion from the Society for Civil Liberties (GFF). This study analyzed over three million data points, including party programs and social media posts, concluding that the AfD violates the Basic Law's principles of human dignity and democracy. The RAV asserts that the evidence is overwhelming and that a ban proceeding would likely succeed. Angela Furmaniak, president of the RAV, stated that the political class must stop hiding behind fallacious arguments and act before it is too late to prevent damage to democracy.

Under Article 21 of the Basic Law, parties can be banned if their goals or the behavior of their followers aim to undermine the liberal democratic basic order. Only the federal government, the Bundestag, or the Bundesrat can file such a request. While the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution monitors the AfD as a suspected right wing extremist case, the party has dismissed the ban efforts as naive.