How precise does the question of a citizens’ initiative have to be? On Thursday, the Bayreuth Administrative Court dismissed a lawsuit from representatives of the citizens’ initiative “Bayreuth Climate Decision” because it did not consider their question to be specific enough, as a spokesman for the court announced in the evening. For the same reason, the city of Bayreuth had already rejected the planned vote on municipal climate protection measures in July 2022. The representatives had sued against this.
This question in the citizens’ initiative is: “Are you in favor of the city of Bayreuth instructing the administration to draw up a concrete and binding action plan within one year of the success of the referendum that will achieve real climate neutrality by 2030?” In addition, citizens should decide whether the action plan should be discussed and implemented.
As the spokesman explained, in the court’s opinion the question alone makes it unclear what is meant by “genuine climate neutrality by 2030”. This is not clear from an addition to the question either. The judges at the administrative court therefore dismissed the lawsuit. The plaintiffs can submit an application for permission to appeal to the Bavarian Administrative Court within one month of delivery of the decision. Before the hearing, supporters of the citizens’ initiative protested in front of the courthouse in Bayreuth.