Demonstrations and religious services: major obstacles to Easter bans

“Gatherings” should be forbidden at Easter. Does that mean a total ban on demonstrations? That would be legally open to attack, as would a ban on religious services.

“Meetings in public spaces are generally prohibited,” says the federal-state conference decision document. It is not yet clear what exactly the term “accumulations” means. He thinks too Watchcollections, that is, demonstrations like the traditional Easter marches? Does “in principle” mean that there will also be exceptions? The federal states have yet to determine all of this.

But if the sentence in the decision document should go in the same direction: Around Easter the demonstrations are completely prohibited, if that would legally stand on shaky feet.

Freedom of assembly is a great good

Freedom of assembly is regulated as a fundamental right in article 8 of the Basic Law. They may be restricted by law, also for reasons of fighting a pandemic. However, a complete ban can only be a last resort. The classic middle ground in practice is the so-called “requirements”, for example: few people, great distance, additional hygiene requirements.

Courts have repeatedly opposed assembly bans, including by the Federal Constitutional Court in an urgent decision since the start of the pandemic in April 2020. With a total ban on a demonstration in Hesse, the authorities would have misjudged the importance and scope of freedom. assembly, according to the Karlsruhe judges at the time. For decades, the court has emphasized the great importance of this fundamental right in numerous decisions.

Conditions like a milder medium

Of course, when you think about this topic, images of Kassel with tens of thousands of protesters and the lack of distance come to mind. Of course, that is not the point. In any case, the total ban is legally difficult, even if at the same time milder variants and compatible with health protection are possible. In any event, the courts will strictly monitor whether the authorities examined these very small demonstration scenarios.

No services, just a “request”

The ban on attending religious services would also be difficult to enforce for similar legal reasons. That should be one of the reasons why the decision document remains a “request” from politicians to churches. Shortly before Easter last year, the Federal Constitutional Court also warned about the importance of religious freedom.

The court had rejected an urgent request from a Catholic on Good Friday 2020. But at the same time it stressed that the ban on religious services is an “extremely serious interference with freedom of belief.” The judges warned that politicians must constantly review the proportionality of such measures.