Freedom of assembly

Freedom of association and freedom of assembly were guaranteed by the German Constitution. Nevertheless, the authorities underlined that both freedoms could be limited by law.

Participants highlighted that the federal tax law granted exemptions for non-governmental organisations (NGOs). In this regard, it raised the question as to the degree to which an NGO could be political and still maintain its charity⁽²⁾ status. NGOs who spoke out against far-right tendencies faced allegations of being too political, with subsequent investigations. Although these allegations often lacked legal basis, they discouraged NGOs from being active and created an atmosphere of unease. If a CSO wanted to apply for government programmes, it had to be registered as a charity⁽³⁾. In autumn 2020, legal changes had been introduced to the charity law and the list of purposes for which an organisation
could be granted charity status was amended and extended. It was underlined that charity status was vital for many organisations. This status could be automatically withdrawn if the organisation appeared on a certain list of the German intelligence service and it would then become extremely difficult to get this status back. One participant qualified this law as restrictive. It was noted that civil society was not receiving rescue funding from the state to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and that this fact, combined with the restrictive law, might be detrimental to some organisations. Organisations who acted as watchdogs were particularly vulnerable, especially if their scope of work included monitoring COVID-19 measures. As a result, some organisations admitted that they tended to self-censor so as not to lose charity status.

Furthermore, one participant pointed out that the transparency and public accountability of CSOs were not very advanced; some CSOs continued to fail to disclose their sources of funding, a fact that was leading to calls for this to be made a legal obligation for CSOs. It was also pointed out that no single register of CSOs existed; a number of different registers were available instead, with different conditions for registration, which provided for a confusing overview of civil society organisations.

Participants noted that there was no government body in charge of civil society. They believed that there was a certain lack of understanding at government level as to the raison d'être and role of civil society. Some regretted that there was no provision for involving CSOs in the debate on human rights and that, in general, there was little scope for their involvement in political decision-making. The importance and benefits of engaging civil society were made clear during the refugee crisis in 2015-2016, when CSOs were essential in managing the situation, in particular in Germany.

There was general agreement that the police had sufficient powers to deal with the current situation and that there was no need to extend them. The authorities believed that there was no structural problem as regards the police and explained that the police in Germany came under the responsibility of individual federal states. Authorities from Saxony reported on awareness-raising activities about the rights of minorities, organised for future police officers. It was noted by civil society participants that a worrying law on policing had been passed in Bavaria in 2018 without any prior consultation with civil society in the drafting process. German federal law, stipulated that if a perpetrator of an act of violence was identified during the protest, the individual needed to be removed from the gathering, without the protest being dispersed. However, one participant highlighted concerns in connection with the protests on the margins of the G-20 Summit in Hamburg in 2017. Individuals who took part in protests in which acts of violence were committed, but without their direct involvement, had been detained. (The German authorities contested the views expressed by the participant). It was pointed out that the police tended to protect different types of protests in a selective manner: protests by left-wingers seemed to be subject to more surveillance than right-wing protests. One participant expressed concern about the fact that the current anti-COVID-measure protests might be used as a reason to restrict freedom of assembly in the future. The authorities stated to the delegation that they strived to strike the right balance between freedom of assembly and the protection of public health, within the legal limits.

(2) In Germany, charity as a legal term is only relevant in tax law.
(3) Charity status is granted to organisations who pursue aims that benefit the public, benevolent aims, or religious aims.