Status: 02/28/2023 1:00 p.m
An NPD politician failed with his constitutional complaint: he complained about his exclusion from a sports club and rated the step as discrimination. The Federal Constitutional Court saw things differently and agreed with the association.
A sports club does not have to tolerate NPD members in its own ranks and can therefore also exclude them. The Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the freedom of association enshrined in the Basic Law basically grants an association the right to decide on the admission and exclusion of members itself. If an association expressly orients itself in its statutes to the free-democratic basic order and opposes extremist, racist and xenophobic efforts, this is not objectionable, even in consideration of other rights arising from the Basic Law.
The judges found that the complainant’s argument, a long-time NPD politician, that he was discriminated against by the association because of his political views, did not work. The complainant was allowed to be expelled from the association because of his active involvement as NPD state chairman. They did not accept the man’s constitutional complaint for a decision. All lower courts had agreed with the association.
Association changed its statutes for expulsion
In this specific case, it is about the Hamburg NPD state chairman Lennart Schwarzbach. He joined a sports club in Schleswig-Holstein in the Pinneberg district in 2014.
The sports club finally excluded the right-wing extremist from membership in 2019 after several unsuccessful attempts. In 2018, the association even changed its statutes and decided to only accept membership if the member committed to the free-democratic basic order.
The statutes of the association specifically state:
Members of extremist organizations of any political orientation, as well as members of racist and xenophobic organizations or religious groups such as B. the NPD and its state associations, can not become a member of the association.
NPD politicians went to court “because of discrimination”.
The NPD politician defended himself against being thrown out and went to court. As a non-profit association, it must be open to everyone, he argued. The Federal Constitutional Court rejected it, as did the lower courts.
Judgment compatible with fundamental rights
The judgment of the Higher Regional Court is compatible with fundamental rights. It weighed up the freedom of association and the interest in not being excluded because of a political opinion.
In making its decision, it also considered Schwarzbach’s active political work as head of the NPD, the Federal Constitutional Court further explained.
Az: 1 BvR 187/21