Direct democracy in Rhineland-Palatinate

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Opportunities for the use of instruments of direct democracy in Rhineland-Palatinate exist at the state level , the level of the municipality and the district .

Direct democracy at the state level

Popular initiative

According to Art. 108a of the state constitution, the citizens of Rhineland-Palatinate can oblige the state parliament to deal with a specific matter. The initiative's application must be signed by at least 30,000 voters. From a systematic point of view, popular initiatives are a forerunner of popular initiatives and referendums: If their subject matter is a draft law and the state parliament does not pass this law within three months of the launch of the popular initiative, the representatives of the popular initiative can request the implementation of a popular initiative.

Referendum and referendum

Referendums and referendums are regulated in Articles 107-115 of the state constitution (legislation).

At the state level there is the direct democratic institute of referendums. A referendum can aim to enact, amend or repeal a law. It can also have the object of dissolving the state parliament. The referendum is prepared by a referendum. In principle, it must be supported by 300,000 voters who must register within a period of two months after the approval of the referendum has been announced.

After submitting a referendum, two thirds of the members of the state parliament can demand that a state law that has already been passed is to be suspended for the purpose of carrying out a referendum.

Referendums that address financial issues, tax laws and salary regulations are not permitted. This is a so-called negative catalog, so that, conversely, all matters that are not included can be the subject of a referendum.

So far there has been no successful referendum or referendum in Rhineland-Palatinate. The lack of use of these instruments of direct democracy in Rhineland-Palatinate is possibly also due to the fact that a very high quorum of signatures is required for initiative petitions. In addition, the 300,000 supporters have to register within two months, which is hardly possible in practice. That is why the regional association of the Mehr Demokratie eVua association is calling for the quorum to be reduced to 100,000 eligible voters and an extension of the registration period to six months.

Direct democracy at community and district level

Resident application

According to §17 Abs. 1 GemO, residents who have reached the age of 14 can request that a matter of self-administration be presented to the municipal council for advice and a decision. At the district level, this is regulated analogously in § 11d LKO.

The resident application must deal with a matter of the municipality or the district. Matters that affect another municipality, for example, are not permitted. The respective body, local council or district council, takes a final position on this matter after submitting the resident application. The implementation of certain projects by the respective body cannot be requested with the resident application.

Referendum

Citizens' petitions and referendums are regulated for the level of the municipalities in § 17a GemO for the level of the districts in § 11e LKO.

The referendum prepares a referendum. According to § 17a Abs. 1 S. 1 GemO citizens can apply for a referendum on a matter of the municipality. Section 11e (1) sentence 1 LKO applies to petitions for citizens at the district level. In contrast to the residents' application, in which the respective body (municipal council or district council) only provides advice and the residents have no influence on the decision of the body, the intention of a referendum is that the residents who are entitled to vote on a matter themselves by means of a referendum vote of the community.

The municipal council decides on the admissibility. A referendum is only admissible if the following criteria are met:

  1. It is not a matter that is listed in the negative catalog of § 17a Paragraph 2 GemO-RLP.
  2. It is a question that can be answered with a yes or no.
  3. If the referendum is directed against a resolution by the municipal council (so-called cash referral petition ), it must be submitted no later than four months after the resolution was passed.
  4. Up to three people must be named who legally represent the referendum.
  5. A certain quorum of people entitled to vote at the municipal level must have signed the petition. The number of necessary supporters depends on the population of the municipality or the district.
  6. The question must be clear . In particular, in the case of public petitions based on funds , the voter must be able to see how the municipality / district should proceed if the resolution is repealed. If necessary, appropriate alternatives are to be shown.

The cost recovery proposal required in earlier versions of the municipal code, which was also a precondition for admissibility, has now been repealed.

Differences at the district level arise in particular with regard to the deadline for public petitions (here three months), the negative catalog and the necessary quorum of supporters.

According to the established case law of the Higher Administrative Court of Rhineland-Palatinate, the citizens' petition itself is viewed as a special organ of the respective regional body (municipality or district). If the referendum is rejected by the responsible municipal council or district council, the legal representatives of the referendum have the opportunity to bring about a local constitutional dispute to clarify the admissibility. The respective municipality or district has to bear the costs of this local constitutional dispute.

According to a working paper of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung eV from 2002, 48% of the citizens' petitions in Rhineland-Palatinate led to a referendum, in 11% the council took over the demands of the referendum, 41% failed. According to this survey, Rhineland-Palatinate is roughly average. - Citizens' petitions often fail because of their admissibility. The extensive regulations on admissibility are sometimes difficult to understand for legal laypeople; the further requirements developed through legal training, such as For example, the unequivocal question outlined above is not even known to most of those responsible for petitions.

Referendum

The implementation of a referendum is based on §§ 67 ff. Rhineland-Palatinate Local Election Act. The referendum is immediate, i. H. without culpable hesitation after the decision on the admissibility of the referendum. In the case of citizens' petitions, the election date is set by the local council at the community level and by the district council at the district level. In order to avoid influencing the voter, the approval of the respective supervisory authority is required if a day is determined on which an election has already been set. The character of the referendum is similar to a direct vote. Therefore, Sections 48 - 52 KWG-RLP (elective examination) apply accordingly to their implementation.

A referendum does not apply if the district council or the municipal council decides on the requested measure in unchanged form or works out a compromise proposal with the legal representatives of the referendum.

A referendum is successful if at least 15 percent of the electorate have participated and the question in question has a majority of valid votes. If the required quorum of 15 percent of those entitled to vote is not reached, the local council or district council has to decide on the matter itself. A successful referendum is equivalent to a municipal council resolution or a decision of the district council. A decision to the contrary may not be made at the earliest three years after the referendum.

According to a report by the Mehr Demokratie eV association , there were 211 citizens' petitions and 123 referendums in Rhineland-Palatinate from 1956 to 2017.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Art. 107-115 Land Constitution RLP
  2. ^ "AfD plans popular initiative on street contributions" in Allgemeine Zeitung v. November 23, 2018. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  3. ^ List of reform proposals for referendums and referendums in Rhineland-Palatinate
  4. ↑ VV to § 11d LKO no. 2 (same content as VV to § 17 GemO).
  5. ↑ § 17a GemO. § 11e LKO.
  6. ^ VG Trier, U. v. 26.06.2018, 7 K 1010/18, available here . Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  7. ^ OVG RLP, U. v. February 6, 1996, 7 A 12861/95; OVG RLP B. v. 10/10/2003, 7 B 11392/03; VG Trier, U. v. June 26, 2018, 7 K 1010/18.
  8. ^ VG Trier, B. v. October 15, 2019, 7 N 4075/19.
  9. ↑ Deppe: Direct Democracy II - An inventory of petitions and referendums at the municipal level since 1990. Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung eV St. Augustin, 2002. Weblink .
  10. ↑ Average: 45% referendum, 14% council approval, 41% failure
  11. ↑ §§ 67 ff. Rhineland-Palatinate municipal election law
  12. ↑ Citizens' petition - Report 2018 , p. 13, accessed on November 30, 2019.