Söders Kreuzerlass remains: Administrative Court rejects lawsuits
Created: 2022-06-02 10:33 p.m
Markus Söder initiated the Kreuzverlass at the beginning of his term as Prime Minister in 2018.
(Archive image) © Peter Kneffel/dpa
The lawsuits against Markus Söder's cross decree, according to which a cross must be hung in every Bavarian authority, was rejected in court.
Munich - The crosses in Bavaria's authorities may remain: The Bavarian Administrative Court (VGH) has rejected lawsuits against the so-called cross decree by Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU).
The regulation, which has been in force since 2018, states that a cross must hang in every state building in Bavaria.
On the other hand, the Association for Freedom of Thought, which is critical of religion, had filed a lawsuit, as had 25 entrepreneurs, politicians and artists.
The top Bavarian administrative judges have now all dismissed these lawsuits.
The court announced on Thursday in Munich that the reasons for the decision were not yet available and would probably be drawn up in the coming weeks.
Lawsuit against Söder's Kreuzverlass dismissed: Association for Freedom of Thought wants to go into revision
With regard to the claims of the federal government for intellectual freedom, however, the VGH allowed an appeal to the Federal Administrative Court, but not for the individuals.
The Association for Freedom of Thought immediately announced that it would uphold the lawsuit and would "follow the lawsuit up to the Federal Constitutional Court".
The controversy about the cross will go into further legal rounds until the final clarification.
In April 2018, the Bavarian cabinet, on the initiative of Söder, who had just been promoted to prime minister at the time, decided that a cross should be hung in the entrance area of every state authority in the future.
Despite strong criticism - even from the churches, which accused him of misusing the Christian symbol for electoral purposes - the decree came into force in June 2018.
Söder's cross decree from 2018: A cross must hang in every Bavarian authority
Since then, paragraph 28 of the rules of procedure for the authorities of the Free State has stated: "In the entrance area of every office building, a clearly visible cross must be attached as an expression of the historical and cultural character of Bavaria."
Just like 25 entrepreneurs, politicians and cultural workers, including the singer-songwriter Konstantin Wecker.
Their goal: to oblige the Bavarian state government to repeal the cross decree and have the crosses removed.
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The Munich Administrative Court forwarded the lawsuit to a higher instance in the essential question of the legality of the Kreuzverlass.
Therefore, the Administrative Court had to decide.
Head of the State Chancellery Florian Herrmann (CSU) said about the decision that the Kreuzverlass was legal.
"The highest Bavarian administrative court has thus fully confirmed the state government.
That's a very good decision." Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) added: "Now we have to wait and see the reasons for the verdict."
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Association for Freedom of Thought calls on Söder to withdraw the Kreuzverlass
Assunta Tammelleo, chairwoman of the Association for Freedom of Thought in Munich, called on Söder to withdraw the Kreuzverlass.
"And if the prime minister sticks to the Kreuzer edict, we will continue the lawsuit up to the Federal Constitutional Court," she emphasized.
A hearing last week dealt with many complex legal issues - such as whether the individual lawsuits are admissible, whose rights may be violated and how serious this interference is.
In essence, it was about the meaning and interpretation of the cross: the plaintiffs argued, among other things, that the decree of the cross means a preference for the Christian churches and thus a "substantial disadvantage" for the plaintiffs - this contradicts the principle of equal treatment and the neutrality requirement of the state.
Cross decree in Bavaria: Cross should be an expression of historical and cultural character
Prosecutor Marcus Niese, on the other hand, had emphasized that the Free State "does not affix the cross in its capacity as a religious symbol", but as an expression of Bavaria's historical and cultural character - this is also what the corresponding regulation says.
Court President Andrea Breit had already indicated at the end of the hearing that the dispute could ultimately go before the Federal Administrative Court: "I'm afraid we won't be the last to deal with the problem," she said.
(dpa)
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