The right to assemble peacefully and without weapons without registration or permission is enshrined in the Basic Law (GG) of the Federal Republic of Germany. According to the wording of Article 8(1) of the Basic Law, this right is only granted to Germans, but it is guaranteed to all people by the Assembly Act and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights.
An assembly within the meaning of this law is the gathering of several persons in a common place to discuss or deliberate on public matters or to express an opinion on such matters. Processions (parades, demonstrations) are gatherings in the open air that move around (on foot, in motor vehicles, ships, boats, on bicycles).
Does your meeting take place outdoors?
The right to assemble in the open air can be restricted by law or on the basis of a law (Article 8(2) of the Basic Law). This is done, among other things, by the Assembly Act (VersG). § Section 14 (1) VersG stipulates that public open-air assemblies or processions must be notified to the competent authority - in this case the district police authority - at least 48 hours before they are announced, stating the subject of the assembly or procession: district police authority. Before announcement does not mean before the start of the assembly/event, but rather before the call for this assembly/event.
Why do you have to register your assembly?
The purpose of registration is to ensure that the assembly can be given the necessary protection and that the interests of third parties and security interests (e.g. through appropriate traffic management) are taken into account. The competent authority may prohibit an assembly if the organizer is not entitled to the right of assembly or if public safety and order are at risk. It can also impose conditions or break up assemblies that have not been approved or do not comply with the conditions. It must disperse banned assemblies.
What do you need to know as an organizer/participant of public gatherings?
Everyone has the right to organize public assemblies and processions and to take part in such events. The only person who does not have this right is someone who has forfeited the fundamental right of freedom of assembly under Article 18 of the Basic Law, who, by organizing or participating in such an event, wishes to promote the aims of a party that has been declared unconstitutional under Article 21 (2) of the Basic Law, a party that has been declared unconstitutional under Article 21 (2) of the Basic Law, an association that is prohibited under Article 9 (2) of the Basic Law.
Anyone who issues a public invitation to a public assembly or a procession must state their name as the organizer in the invitation. In the case of public assemblies and processions, everyone must refrain from disturbances that are intended to prevent the orderly conduct of the event.
Every public assembly must have a leader. The leader exercises domiciliary rights and determines the course of the assembly. He or she must ensure order during the meeting and can interrupt or close the meeting at any time. The chairperson is responsible for the orderly conduct of the meeting. He may use the help of an appropriate number of volunteer stewards to exercise his rights. However, the use of stewards requires police approval and must be applied for at the time of registration. The stewards must be of legal age and must be identifiable by white armbands bearing only the designation "steward". The police may reasonably limit the number of stewards.
All assembly participants are obliged to follow the instructions of the leader or the stewards appointed by him to maintain order. The police may exclude participants who grossly disrupt order from the assembly. Anyone excluded from the assembly must leave immediately.
Church services in the open air, church processions, petitions and pilgrimages, ordinary funeral receptions, processions of wedding parties and traditional public festivals are not subject to registration.
Prohibitions:
At public assemblies or processions and on the way to such events, it is prohibited in particular to carry weapons or other objects which by their nature are suitable or intended to injure persons or damage property without being officially authorized to do so, to bring them to such events or to keep them ready or distribute them for use at such events, to wear uniforms, parts of uniforms or similar items of clothing as an expression of a common political sentiment, to carry weapons of protection or objects which are suitable as weapons of protection and are intended in the circumstances to ward off enforcement measures by a holder of sovereign powers, to participate in such events in a form which is suitable and intended in the circumstances to prevent identification, or to travel to such events in such a form, to carry objects which are suitable and intended in the circumstances to prevent identification.
Punishment of violations of the Assembly Act:
Violations of the provisions of the Assembly Act are punishable in accordance with Sections 21 - 28 of the Assembly Act or constitute administrative offenses in accordance with Section 29 of the Assembly Act. Criminal offenses under the VersG are punishable by fines or prison sentences of up to 3 years, administrative offenses by fines.
Further information on assembly law can be found on the state website of the North Rhine-Westphalia police.