Legal situation: What is allowed during farmers’ protests?

Farmers across the country are protesting against the government’s planned measures, blocking motorways and other roads. What is allowed? Where does the right to demonstrate end? And what is the difference to “climate adhesives”?

What are the fundamental Rules when demonstrating?

According to the Basic Law, all Germans have the right to assemble, i.e. to demonstrate for or against something. Freedom of assembly is one of the most important fundamental rights for democracy. A meeting does not have to be approved either.

But: As a rule, you have to register it in good time, i.e. 48 hours in advance, so that the authorities can prepare for it and so that they can check whether the gathering endangers public safety or public order.

Only if this is the case can the authority impose conditions, for example saying: The meeting must take place at a different place or at a different time or it must not take place for such a long time. As a last resort, the assembly authority may also ban or dissolve a meeting. But only if the requirements alone are not enough to ensure public safety and public order. These rules of the right of assembly apply generally, regardless of what the demonstration is for or against.

Blocking roads – is this forced or allowed?

In principle, freedom of assembly also guarantees the right to decide when and where a demonstration takes place. Sometimes other road users are also affected. Because: Meetings usually take place in public spaces. Its purpose is to make others aware of something and convince them of a point of view. Blocking streets as part of a demonstration is therefore fundamentally covered by freedom of assembly.

However, since this also affects other people’s fundamental rights and can endanger public safety and order, the assembly authority must carefully examine and weigh up how far this goes. It plays a role, for example, how long the disruption lasts, whether there are bypass options, and whether people were warned in advance.

If a gathering is lawfully prohibited or broken up and the demonstrators nevertheless specifically block other road users, then they may in fact be liable to prosecution for coercion.

What is the difference to the protests of the “Last Generation”?

Many “Last Generation” activists were convicted of coercion. The main difference is that, unlike farmers, they do not announce their road blockades, i.e. their demonstrations, in advance. If there is an unregistered meeting, the street cannot be closed beforehand, traffic cannot be redirected, and people have no way of avoiding the event. In addition, when the climate activists blockades, no one usually identifies themselves as the leader of the meeting.

All of this leads to the meetings being quickly dissolved by the meeting authority. And anyone who then sticks to the road and continues to block it can potentially be prosecuted for coercion.

But here too, the fundamental right of freedom of assembly must be taken into account and the courts must look: How long did the blockade last, when was the road open again, were there options for bypassing it? If a farmers’ demonstration is legally dispersed, the legal assessment is no different. Even then there is coercion in the room.

The long-term goal that the demonstrators are pursuing plays no role in the assessment of criminal liability. The courts are therefore not supposed to evaluate whether the goal for which the demonstration was made is “good” or “bad”.

Do protesters commit criminal offenses if they violate regulations?

The authorities have imposed a condition for Monday that motorway entrances may be blocked for a maximum of an hour and exits must remain clear.

First of all, the chair of the meeting is responsible for ensuring that the requirements are adhered to. If he does not do this, he will be liable to prosecution under the Assembly Act. And if the meeting is broken up by the authorities and the demonstrators remain standing, they are at least committing an administrative offense and risk a fine. In addition, as described above, there may be criminal offenses if they specifically block traffic or resist law enforcement officers.

What is allowed on posters?

Inscriptions such as “Hang Habeck” or gallows with traffic lights or politicians have already been shown during protests. The fundamental right of freedom of expression allows one to express one’s opinion on posters during demonstrations. And this can also be done pointedly. Of course you can express that you do not agree with the traffic light policy. However, freedom of expression has its limits where crimes are committed. Anyone who clearly incites others to commit crimes, for example acts of violence against politicians, is committing a criminal offense. The same applies if politicians are seriously threatened or unduly insulted.

However, the questions of criminal liability cannot be answered in general terms here either. In individual cases, for example, it is important to clarify what the demonstrators wanted to say with their poster.