Registering an assembly

No – and this is the most frequently repeated mistake on this subject. § 14 Abs. 1 VersammlG requires that the intention be registered “with the competent authority at least 48 hours before the announcement”. What matters, therefore, is the moment of public announcement, not the date of the assembly. If you want to promote a rally two weeks in advance, the last permissible moment for registration was two weeks and two days before the event. The practical rule is therefore: register first, invite afterwards. Also note that eight federal states have their own laws, which can differ.

No. Art. 8 GG guarantees the right to “assemble peacefully and unarmed without registration or permission”; for assemblies held in the open air this right may be restricted by or under a law – and precisely this is the source of the duty to register. Registration is therefore a notification, not an application: you are not waiting for permission, but putting the authority in a position to organise the proceedings and protect third parties. The authority can impose conditions and, within narrow limits, issue a ban, but it does not grant a permit on which you would depend.

Since the 2006 federalism reform, legislative competence for assembly law has lain with the federal states. Bavaria, Berlin, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Schleswig-Holstein have enacted their own assembly laws. In the remaining eight federal states, the federal assembly law continues to apply until replaced by state law. This is more than a formality: deadlines, responsibilities, the duties of the assembly's leadership, and rules on face coverings or stewards can differ. Before registering, therefore, check which law applies to you – your city's official website notice is the quickest way to find out.

An assembly that forms unplanned out of a current occasion – without invitation, without an organiser, without preparation. Because there is no one who could have registered it, the duty to register does not apply to it; it is permitted without registration. To be distinguished from this is the urgent assembly (Eilversammlung): there, an organiser and some planning exist, but the occasion arose so suddenly that the 48-hour deadline could not be met. It must be registered as soon as possible – at the latest with the announcement. The distinction matters because, for the urgent assembly, a duty to register does exist after all, just with a different deadline.

Only under strict conditions. Because freedom of assembly is a fundamental right, a ban must be proportionate and requires an immediate danger to public safety or order that cannot be averted by milder means. The milder means are conditions – on the route, the time, the noise level, the number of stewards – and these are the rule. If you consider a ban or condition disproportionate, you can have both reviewed by the Verwaltungsgericht; because of the short time frame, this happens through interim relief. Do not delay this: an application for interim relief filed the evening before has little chance of success.

This too is a matter of state law and therefore not uniform nationwide. In many federal states it is the public order or district authority of the municipality, in others the police. The quickest way to find the right office is to search for “assembly authority” (Versammlungsbehörde) together with your city, or to ask the Bürgerservice; many municipalities provide their own online form. Submit the registration in a way that lets you prove receipt – with confirmation from the online form, an acknowledgement of receipt by email, or a stamp confirming the date of receipt. Where a deadline is tied to the announcement, proof of the time of registration matters all the more.

The assembly's leadership. § 14 Abs. 2 VersammlG therefore expressly requires stating which person “is to be responsible for the leadership of the assembly or procession”. This person ensures the orderly conduct of the event, can deploy stewards, exclude participants and end the assembly. They are the point of contact for the authority and bear responsibility for conditions being observed. Choose someone for this who will actually be reachable and present on the day – and name a deputy in case something comes up.

This does not automatically make the assembly unlawful – the fundamental right also protects an unregistered assembly, and the absence of registration alone does not justify dispersal or a ban. The infringement of the duty to register can, however, be sanctioned, and the consequences differ depending on state law. Above all, though, you create practical problems for yourself: without registration there is no coordinated traffic management, no barriers and no point of contact – which, with a larger number of participants, can quickly lead to a situation requiring the authority to intervene. Register as soon as the place, time and subject are fixed.