Proceedings to Ban the AfD:
What's Behind It?

How does a party ban actually work? 

In Germany, only three bodies are authorized to apply for a party ban: the Bundestag (Parliament), the Bundesrat (Federal Council), or the Federal Government. The Federal Constitutional Court then decides on the application.

The legal foundation for this is Art. 21 para. 2 of the Basic Law. According to this, a party can be banned if it aims to impair or abolish the free democratic basic order (short: fdGO). This includes, among other things, human dignity as well as central elements of the principles of democracy and the rule of law.

Three hurdles set by the Court 

Not every controversial statement is enough for a ban. In practice, the Federal Constitutional Court sets clear requirements: 

1. Actively combative stance It is not enough to spread anti-constitutional ideas. The party must actively and aggressively work towards the abolition of the fdGO. A key point here: Individual members or officials pursuing such goals are not sufficient. The Court looks at the party as a whole. Its official program, its structures, and its collective behavior must be geared toward this objective.
2. Targetedness The behavior of the party and its supporters must be clearly directed at the elimination of the democratic basic order. Critical or provocative statements alone are not sufficient. The decisive factor is whether a targeted pattern emerges that indicates the dismantling of democratic structures. Statements, resolutions, and actions of the party must point in this direction when viewed as a whole.
3. Potentiality The party must be realistically capable of achieving its anti-constitutional goals, at least in part. Completely hopeless endeavors are not enough. A look at history shows why this is so important: In the 2017 NPD ban proceedings, the Federal Constitutional Court found that the NPD's goals were anti-constitutional. However, a ban was still not issued because the party was simply too insignificant to seriously endanger democracy. For a party represented in the Bundestag and several state parliaments, this could be evaluated differently.

And the Office for the Protection of the Constitution decision from February? 

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified the AfD as a suspected right-wing extremist case for some time. In the next step, the authority intended to classify the party as a "proven right-wing extremist endeavor," a much more severe classification. The AfD filed a lawsuit against this. 

On February 26, 2026, the Administrative Court of Cologne decided in an interim proceeding that the AfD may not yet be classified and communicated as "proven right-wing extremist." However, this is only a preliminary decision. The actual main proceedings are still pending and will clarify the matter conclusively.

Important to know: This decision is of an administrative law nature and has nothing to do with party ban proceedings. The legal standards are completely different. 

What does all of this mean for us? 

As the AStA of FH Aachen, we are informing you about this topic because it is currently a subject of intense social and political debate. Furthermore, according to the Higher Education Act of North Rhine-Westphalia (HG NRW), it is our responsibility to promote your political awareness and your willingness to actively engage with democratic issues. 

We are not calling on you to take any specific position.
We want you to know what is happening right now and be able to form your own opinion on the matter.