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Oral hearing in the proceedings concerning the prohibition of the National Democratic Party of Germany 1, 2 and 3 March 2016, at 10:00 a.m.

Press Release No. 90/2015 of 07 December 2015

Order of 2 December 2015
2 BvB 1/13

In the proceedings concerning the prohibition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD), the Second Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court has decided, pursuant to § 45 of the Federal Constitutional Court Act (Bundesverfassungsgerichtsgesetz), to conduct proceedings with regard to the applications filed by the Bundesrat. The Senate has set the dates of the oral hearing for

Tuesday 1 March 2016, 10:00 am,
Wednesday 2 March 2016, 10:00 am, and
Thursday 3 March 2016, 10:00 am.


The oral hearing will take place in the courtroom of the Federal Constitutional Court, Schlossbezirk 3, 76131 Karlsruhe.

Important Information: Journalists can only request accreditation between Monday 14 Decem-ber 2015, 12:00 noon, and Monday 18 January 2016, 12:00 noon, on the form provided, by tele-fax, under the number +49 721 9101-550. Media will be divided into three different groups. Please find the complete accreditation conditions and the outline of the oral hearing on the last pages of this press release.


Information for interested citizens

Interested citizens who want to attend the oral hearing are requested to register at the following address:

Mr Stadtler
Postfach 1771, 76006 Karlsruhe, Germany
Phone: +49 721 9101-400
Telefax: +49 721 9101-461
Email: besucherdienst@bundesverfassungsgericht.de

Registration starts on Monday 14 December 2015 at 12:00 noon and ends on Monday 18 January 2016 at 12:00 noon. The visitors’ seats will be allotted in the order in which the registrations have been received. Registrations received before or after this period will not be considered.

The registration must indicate the person’s surname, first name, date of birth, contact data (a phone or telefax number or an email address), and the day on which the person wishes to attend the oral hearing.

Per registration, no more than one accompanying person can be registered. Registration is, in principle, only possible for one of the three dates set for the oral hearing.

Accreditation Conditions and Information for Journalists

Accreditation

The accreditation procedure starts on Monday 14 December 2015 at 12:00 noon. Accreditation requests received before this point in time will not be considered. The Federal Constitutional Court will not of its own accord inform the sender if an accreditation request has been made ahead of time.

The accreditation procedure ends on Montag 18 January 2016 at 12:00 noon. After the expiry of this period, accreditation is no longer possible.

Accreditation requests can be made by telefax only. They must be sent to the telefax number +49 721 9101-550; several lines will be connected to this number. This applies to the members of the Justizpressekonferenz Karlsruhe e.V. (JPK) as well. Accreditation requests which are sent to other telefax numbers of the Federal Constitutional Court will not be considered, nor will accreditation requests received by email.

For accreditation requests, the forms provided under

http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/DE/Presse/Akkreditierung.html

(in German) or

http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/EN/Presse/Akkreditierung.html

(in English)

must be used. The form must be filled in completely. The request must indicate which of the three groups the person requesting accreditation belongs to. On request by the Federal Constitutional Court, journalists must provide documentation to prove that they belong to one of the groups, e.g. by presenting a valid press card or a letter of reference issued by the medium sending the journalist.

The accreditation requests will be considered in the order in which they have been received. This will be determined by the order shown on the notice of receipt in the log report of the fax server of the telefax number +49 712 9101-550. If faxes have been received at the same time, accreditation is awarded by drawing lots.

A few days after the expiry of the deadline, the Federal Constitutional Court will inform the appli-cants of whether their accreditation requests have been successful or unsuccessful.


Available Seats and Allocation of Seats

In the press gallery, there will be a total of 42 seats for media representatives. In addition, another 32 seats in the gallery provide a view of the courtroom through a glass pane, and audio transmission from the courtroom. The available 74 seats are allocated as follows:

  1. In the press gallery, 15 seats are reserved in advance for full members (honorary members excepted) of the Justizpressekonferenz Karlsruhe e.V. (JPK). Each medium which is represented in the JPK by a full member is entitled to one of these seats. The same applies to each full member who does not represent a specific medium. A full member who represents more than one medium is only entitled to one seat.

  2. For the distribution of the other 59 seats, the media is divided into three groups. The seats are allocated in the following order:

    Seats no. 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 10 each go to a medium headquartered in Germany.

    Seats no. 3 and 9 each go to a medium headquartered abroad.

    Seat no. 6 goes to a freelance journalist. All freelance journalists form part of this group, irrespective of their countries of origin.

    Subsequently, counting starts again at 1. If all applicants from an entitled group have already been considered, the respective figure is skipped.

  3. The 42 seats in the press gallery are allocated first, then, counting consecutively, the 32 seats in the gallery.

  4. First, every medium accredited in due time is allocated only one seat. Another seat per medium is allocated if all media accredited in due time have received a seat. The same applies to the allocation of further seats. Freelance journalists are considered within their above-mentioned group.


General Information

The seats in the (press) gallery must be taken by 9:45 am on the respective day. If a seat has not been taken by this time, it can be allocated otherwise for this day. Journalists who do not have a seat in the (press) gallery will have to leave the courtroom after the presiding Justice of the Senate has established the presence of the parties to the proceedings. The area outside the courtroom must be vacated.

There will be an audio transmission from the courtroom to the press room. The press room is equipped with tables providing space for 60 workplaces; a limited amount of power sockets is available for using laptop computers. The Federal Constitutional Court cannot guarantee the capacity of mobile telephone and data networks.


Additional Information Concerning the Courtroom

It is not permitted to make phone calls, tweet or send other messages, retrieve digital data, or use the internet in any way within or from the courtroom. All electronic devices which can be used for these purposes, in particular mobile phones, laptop computers and tablet computers, may not be used in the courtroom. Media representatives can obtain permission to use computers in offline mode if it is ensured that the devices are not used for sound or image recording or for data transmission.

Taking Photographs and Filming, Pooling

  1. Taking photographs, filming and sound recording are permissible until the end of the establishment of the presence of the parties to the proceedings by the presiding Justice of the Senate. After that, photographers and camera teams have to leave the courtroom level (including the space outside the courtroom and the [press] gallery).

  2. There will be pooling for taking photographs and filming in the courtroom. Two television teams (a public and a private television station with a maximum of three cameras each) and six photographers (four agency photographers and two freelance photographers) will be admitted to the courtroom. The pool representatives undertake to supply, upon request, their photographs and films to other radio and television stations, as well as photographic agencies.

    The willingness to be a pool representative must be stated with the accreditation request. The pool representatives will be appointed in the order in which the faxes with the respective accreditation requests have been received. This will be determined by the order shown on the notice of receipt in the log report of the fax server of the telefax number +49 712 9101-550. If faxes have been received at the same time, pool representatives will be appointed by drawing lots.

    The television stations, agencies and photographers are free to determine the persons who are part of their teams.

  3. When taking photographs and filming in the courtroom, photographers, camera operators and other media representatives must ensure that the Senate has free vision to all sides. It is not allowed to enter the area behind the Justices’ bench. Instructions by the court staff must be complied with. Taking photographs and filming is only permitted with silent devices without a flash.

  4. After the end of the oral hearing, and during the lunch break, a period of 20 minutes is assigned for interviews with the parties to the proceedings in the courtroom, as well as for filming them and taking photographs of them there. Beyond this period, the reception room on the first floor and the entrance hall on the ground floor are available for this purpose.

Vehicles of Radio and Television Teams; Technicians

There are only a limited number of parking spaces available for SNG vehicles, editing vehicles and OB vans. If parking spaces are needed, this must be indicated with the accreditation request on the form provided. The parking spaces are allocated in the order in which the requests have been received. For the allocation of the parking spaces, the following information is requested: number plate, vehicle type, make, dimensions (L x W x H in metres), weight and, if applicable, demand of power to be supplied by the Federal Constitutional Court.

The names, dates of birth and ID card numbers of the accompanying technicians and the vehicle data can be submitted subsequently. The form provided under

http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/DE/Presse/Akkreditierung.html

(in German) or

http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/EN/Presse/Akkreditierung.html

(in English)

must be used for this. This also applies to media represented by members of the Justizpressekonferenz. The form can be sent via email to the address presse@bundesverfassungsgericht.de, or by telefax to the number +49 721 9101-461, by Monday 29 February 2016, 10:00 am, at the latest.

It is possible to arrive and to set up the equipment on the day before the start of the oral hearing from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm, and on the days of the oral hearing between 7:00 am and 9:00 am.

Setting up of studios

The setting up of studios must be agreed in advance with the Federal Constitutional Court’s Press Office. It is only possible to set up studios in the reception room on the first floor and in the entrance hall on the ground floor. Requests can be made with the accreditation request at the earliest; the available spaces will be allotted in the order in which the requests have been received.

This information is based on § 17a of the Federal Constitutional Court Act in conjunction with the supplementing provisions laid down by the First and the Second Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court.

Outline of the Oral Hearing of the Second Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court on 1, 2 and 3 March 2016   (PDF, 81KB, non-accessible format)