Germany: Teacher wins appeal against political ban
01 January 2007
Michael Csaszkóczy, who was refused a position as a teacher by the regional education authority in 2004 because he was active within the anti-fascist group
Antifaschistische Initiative Heidelberg (AIHD) (which led the authority to doubt his commitment to the German constitution), has won his appeal in the second instance court. The Baden-Württemberg administrative court overruled an earlier decision by the regional administrative court in Karslruhe and ordered the education authority to reconsider Csaszkóczy's application.
The education authority had based its decision on the so-called "Anti-Radical Decree" from 1972, according to which "an applicant [to a civil service position] may only be appointed to public service [if he] guarantees that he is committed at any time to the liberal democratic constitutional structure [as laid down in] the German constitution [
Grundgesetz]". The education authority, supported by the first instance appeal court, had claimed that the anti-fascist group had "attacked and defamed the Federal Republic of Germany" and "transgressed the border of legitimate critique of our state and its constitution" and that through his membership, Csaszkóczy was not to be trusted in the education system (see
Statewatch Vol. 16 no 2).
Three civil liberties organisations monitored the court proceedings and have expressed relief at the outcome. Rolf Gössner, who attended the trial on behalf of the International Human Rights League (
Internationalen Liga für Menschenrechte), the Committee for Basic Rights and Democracy (
Komitees für Grundrechte und Demokratie) and the Republican Lawyer's Association (
Republikanischen Anwältinnen- und Anwalts-vereins) said:
This decision is a slap in the face for the cultural bureaucracy of Baden-Württemberg and the administrative court in Karlsruhe. And it is a signal against attempts to revive the employment bans of the last decades
Press release of the civil liberties groups from 15.3.07: http://www.grundrechtekomitee.de/ub_showarticle.php?articleID=228
Campaign to stop the employment bans: http://www.gegen-berufsverbote.de/
Antifaschistische Initiative Heidelberg: http://www.autonomes-zentrum.org/ai/; Internationalen Liga für Menschenrechte: http://www.ilmr.de/
Komitee für Grundrechte und Demokratie:
http://www.grundrechtekomitee.de/
Republikanischen Anwältinnen- und Anwaltsverein: http://www.rav.de