Resident application

The resident application (in Baden-Württemberg until 2015, Bavaria and the municipality of Bremen: citizen application ) is an instrument of direct democracy in Germany . With it, residents or citizens of a municipality can oblige the municipal council to deal with a specific matter in a public session. However, the resident application does not oblige the municipal council in all federal states to bring about a decision on the matter.

Framework conditions in the federal states

The legal basis for resident applications is the valid municipal regulations of the German federal states. Different regulations apply to those entitled to apply in each country. In some cases, the necessary quorum is not based on the total number of eligible applicants, but rather on all residents.

In addition, in some of the federal states a decision can be requested from the responsible local authority, in others only the handling of the matter is provided without a mandatory decision.

Framework conditions for resident applications by federal state
state	regulated in	Eligible applicants	Quorum (unless otherwise stated: proportion of eligible applicants)	Request for decision
Baden-Württemberg	Section 20b of the municipal code Section 41 Local Election Act	Residents aged 16 and over	Depending on the size of the community, 1.5% (max. 200) or 3% (min. 200, max. 2,500) of all residents	No
Bavaria	Article 18b of the municipal code , Article 12b of the district code	Community citizen / or district citizen	1% of all residents	No
	→ Main article: Direct democracy in Bavaria # Citizens' application
Berlin (districts)	Sections 44 (PDF; 21 kB) of the District Administration Act	Residents aged 16 and over	1000 inhabitants	Yes
	→ Main article: Citizens' petitions and referendums in Berlin
Brandenburg	Section 14 of the municipal constitution	Residents aged 16 and over	5%	Yes
Bremen	Art. 87 of the state constitution in conjunction with § 6 Citizen Application Act / § 15 of the Bremerhaven constitution	Residents aged 16 and over	City of Bremen: 4,000 inhabitants City of Bremerhaven: 1%	Yes
Hamburg	not provided
Hesse	not provided
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	Section 18 of the municipal constitution	Residents of the municipality / district, aged 14 and over	5% or at least 2,000	No
Lower Saxony	Section 31 NKomVG	Residents of the municipality / district / region of Hanover, aged 14 and over	2.5% - 5% of all residents, caps at 400-8,000	No
North Rhine-Westphalia	Section 25 of the municipal code, Section 22 of the district code	Residents aged 14 and over	4 - 5% of all residents, capped at 4,000 - 8,000	Yes
Rhineland-Palatinate	Section 17 of the municipal code Section 11d of the district regulations	Residents aged 14 and over	2% of all residents, maximum 2,000, in municipalities min. 10	Yes
Saarland	Section 21 of the Municipal Self-Administration Act	Residents of the community / district from 16 years	5%	Yes
Saxony	Section 23 SächsGemO § 20 SächsLKrO	Residents aged 16 and over, in districts aged 18 and over	5 - 10%	No
Saxony-Anhalt	Section 25 Local Constitutional Law	Residents of the community / district from 16 years of age, for youth issues from 14	1.7 - 5%	No
Schleswig-Holstein	Section 16f of the municipal code Section 16e of the district regulations	Residents aged 14 and over	2-5%	Yes
Thuringia	§ 16 (municipality) and § 96a (district) of the municipal regulations as well §§ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ThürEBBG	Residents aged 14 and over	1% of all residents, capped at 300, in rural districts max. 1,000	Yes

1. ↑ Bavaria: The name for the municipal political instrument is citizens' application here .
2. ↑ Bremen: In the municipality of Bremen the name for the municipal-political instrument is citizen application , in the municipality of Bremerhaven resident application . Furthermore, the citizens' application exists at the state level, see popular initiative .
3. ↑ Thuringia: Not to be confused with the citizens' application there at state level, see popular initiative .

Formal requirements

Written form and content

A resident application must contain a sufficiently formulated concern including a reason. It is to be submitted in writing to the municipal administration. The application must be made in German. Only a few municipal ordinances require the additional submission of a funding proposal.

Eligible persons

In some municipal ordinances, minors are also named as eligible persons (Section 41 (1) KomWG BW, Sections 19 (1) Bran, 18 (1) sentence 1 MeVo, 31 (1) sentence 1 Nds, 25 (NRW), 17 para. 1 sentence 1 RhPf, 24 para. 1 sentence 1 SachsAn, 16 f para. SchlH).

Support signatures

In all German federal states, the resident application requires the support of a number of support signatures specified in the municipal regulations by persons entitled to apply. There are in some cases legal regulations regarding the form of the signatures to be collected, which require that the signature must include name, date of birth and address. The signature is not subject to any specific certification. Each signature list must contain the entire wording of the resident application.

Subject area

A resident application may only deal with matters that affect local self-government . An application that genuinely concerns state tasks is inadmissible. In addition, the item must be an inhabitant application in the institutional powers fall of the municipal council and not the legally defined competence of the mayor of a municipality touch. There is no positive or negative catalog with regard to the resident application.

Demarcation from referendums and referendums

Citizens' petitions and referendums are forms of direct democracy at the municipal level in Germany . Here, the community has the right to make direct and binding decisions. The resident application does not result in a referendum or a referendum.

See also

• Suffrage
• Popular initiative (Germany)
• Referendum
• Referendum

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Law amending municipal constitutional regulations of October 28, 2015. In: Gesetzblatt für Baden-Württemberg, 2015, No. 19, pp. 870–878. State of Baden-Württemberg, October 30, 2015, accessed on January 7, 2017 .