Popular petition
A people's petition is an instrument for public participation . It enables citizens to take the initiative of introducing an item or a bill into parliament. Parliament then decides in its own sovereignty on the question of whether or not to accept or reject the proposal after deliberation in plenary . In order to make a popular petition a success, i.e. to bring it into parliament, the initiators of the petition must show a certain number of signatures from eligible voters . It is characteristic of the popular petition that it represents a non-binding suggestion by the population, but does not lead to a referendum in which the citizens themselves can decide whether to accept or reject the bill.
Terminology
Germany
The term people's petition is common in science, but is rarely used in general usage and is actually only used officially in Hamburg (see overview of the procedural rules below). Instruments corresponding to the popular petition procedure can be found under other names in the overwhelming number of regional authorities in the German-speaking area (i.e. in Germany, Austria).
Austria
In Austria, the referendum corresponds to the procedure of a people's petition at the federal level .
EU
The European citizens' initiative provided for in the Lisbon Treaty is also a popular petition. Since the EU does not have a fully valid parliament and the separation of powers has only been implemented to a limited extent, the citizens' initiative is aimed at the executive , i.e. the EU Commission . The precise procedural design of the citizens' initiative is currently still being negotiated.
Overview of the rules of procedure
In the German federal states of Baden-Württemberg , Bavaria , Brandenburg , Hesse , Saarland and Saxony , as well as in the Federal Republic of Germany at the national level, there is no procedure comparable to the people's petition.
Popular petitions and their design | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Local authority | official name | regulated in | Topic exclusion | Quorum of signatures | Collection period |
Berlin | Popular initiative |
Art. 61 of the state constitution; Sections 1–9 of the Voting Act |
no topic exclusion | 20,000 | 6 months retrospectively from submission |
Bremen | Citizen application |
Art. 87 of the state constitution; Sections 1–7 of the Citizens' Application Act |
Budget, remuneration and pensions, taxes and personnel decisions |
2% | no deadline |
Hamburg | Popular petition |
Articles 28 and 29 of the state constitution; Sections 1–10 of the Act on Popular Petitions |
no topic exclusion | 10,000 | no deadline |
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | Popular initiative |
Art. 59 of the state constitution; §§ 7-10 of the Referendum Act; Sections 1–8 of the Implementing Ordinance for the VaG |
State budget, taxes, salaries |
15,000 | no deadline |
Lower Saxony | Popular initiative |
Art. 47 of the state constitution; 3–11 of the Referendum Act; 62b – c of the state parliament's rules of procedure |
no topic exclusion | 70,000 | 1 year |
North Rhine-Westphalia | Popular initiative |
Art. 67a of the state constitution; §§ 1–5 of the VIVBVEG; § 1 of the implementing regulation for the VIVBVEG |
no topic exclusion | 0.5% | 1 year retrospectively from the submission |
Rhineland-Palatinate | Popular initiative |
Art. 107, 109a of the state constitution; Section 60g – h of the State Election Act; Sections 73–74 of the state election regulations |
Financial issues, tax laws, pay regulations |
30,000 | 1 year retrospectively from the submission |
Saxony-Anhalt | Popular initiative |
Art. 80 of the state constitution; Sections 4–9 (PDF; 44 kB) of the Referendum Act |
no subject exclusion | 30,000 | no deadline |
Thuringia | Citizen application |
Art. 82 (PDF; 6.1 MB) of the state constitution; Sections 7–8 of the Act on Procedure for Citizens' Applications, Referendums and Referendums |
no topic exclusion | 50,000 | 6 months |
Republic of Austria (Federation) | Referendum |
Art. 41 (2) of the Federal Constitutional Law; Sections 1–24 of the Volksbegehrensgesetz |
no topic exclusion | 100,000 | 1 week |
European Union | European citizens' initiative | For the exact structure of the instrument, see European Citizens' Initiative . |
Remarks
- ↑ A citizen application can be submitted not only for the state of Bremen, but also for the city of Bremen, see resident application .
- ↑ a b c A successful but rejected popular initiative that contains a draft law can be part of a referendum. However, since this can alternatively be initiated with a lower hurdle via a petition for a referendum , the popular initiative retains the character of a popular petition .
Practice in Germany
By the end of 2012, 49 people's petitions had been initiated in the German federal states. Most of the proceedings took place in Lower Saxony (14) and North Rhine-Westphalia (11), followed by Saxony-Anhalt (8), Bremen (7), Hamburg (5) and Berlin (4).
See also
- Direct democracy
- Popular initiative (Germany)
- Popular initiative (Austria)
- Right of initiative
- Online petition