Demonstrations are allowed on the A9 federal autobahn: In summary proceedings, the Bavarian Administrative Court (BayVGH) considered a ban on assembly issued by the state capital Munich for a demonstration on March 26, 2023 to be probably unlawful – and thus upheld the complaint of the applicant for the assembly. However, the demonstration has to be shortened from 90 to 45 minutes. The decision was made on Friday evening (Az. 10 CS 23.575).
The meeting is to take place on Sunday around 12:00 p.m. on a pedestrian bridge leading over the A9 directly at the Munich/Schwabing junction (Mittlerer Ring). For this purpose, the A9 will probably have to be closed inbound between the Munich-Nord motorway junction and the Munich/Schwabing junction and out of town between the Munich/Schwabing junction and the Frankfurter Ring.
Among other things, the assembly is intended to demonstrate against the criminal prosecution of people who abseiled from a motorway bridge over the A9 near Freising in 2021 in protest against the International Motor Show (IAA).
The applicant had filed a lawsuit and urgent application with the Munich Administrative Court against the ban on assembly issued by the state capital of Munich. The urgent application was rejected by the administrative court in a decision dated March 23, 2023. However, the BayVGH has now amended the decision of the administrative court and ordered the suspensive effect of the lawsuit.
The court argues that the freedom of assembly, which is protected by fundamental rights, is of paramount importance for the free-democratic basic order and may only be restricted if there is a risk to public safety and order that cannot be averted in any other way. The risk forecast by the state capital Munich does not justify the ban on assembly in the present case. It had not been adequately explained that the necessary closure of the motorway at this point in time would inevitably lead to a specific danger. The same applies to the concerns raised about a planned abseiling action from the pedestrian bridge. There is no legal remedy against the decision of the BayVGH.