As of: March 6, 2024, 2:47 p.m
Comments
Press
Split
The Thuringian Constitutional Court.
© Martin Schutt/dpa
According to the law, equal opportunities officers at Thuringian universities should be female.
The AfD sued against this and failed before the Constitutional Court.
However, the decision was not unanimous.
Weimar - According to a decision by the state constitutional court, the targeted support of women at Thuringian universities is compatible with the constitution of the Free State.
In a ruling announced on Wednesday, the country's highest court dismissed a lawsuit brought by the AfD parliamentary group against, among other things, the legal regulation according to which only women can become equal opportunities officers at universities and technical colleges.
Based on the state constitution, it is a legitimate goal to try to promote gender equality through a corresponding paragraph in the law, said the President of the Constitutional Court, Klaus von der Weiden, in justifying the decision.
Too few women have leadership roles
Scientific studies show that women are significantly underrepresented both in the number of university professorships occupied and in leadership positions in university administration.
“Only twenty percent of the deaneries are female,” said von der Weiden.
It also seems understandable that women who are discriminated against because of their gender would be more likely to confide in women than men.
“This is particularly plausible in the higher education sector,” said von der Weiden.
Even at the beginning of their scientific careers, they often have to deal with male superiors, while positions at universities are often temporary, which can result in special relationships of dependency.
In the legal dispute, the AfD parliamentary group argued, among other things, that regulations from the Higher Education Act that are intended to particularly promote women are not compatible with German constitutional law.
The AfD also attacked the paragraph that stipulates that three out of eight members of university councils should be women.
Judges disagree
However, unlike the decisions on other contested regulations, the Constitutional Court's decision to fill the positions of equal opportunities officers exclusively with women was not unanimous.
Of the nine constitutional judges, only six supported this decision.
Only five of the nine lawyers agreed with the reasoning.
The constitutional judge Klaus Hinkel gave his own special opinion on the majority's decision.
The rigid interpretation that only women are allowed to hold this position even improperly excludes men from this position who may be the most professionally qualified applicants, he said.
The same applies to men who have experienced discrimination themselves, for example because they were largely responsible for raising children.
In fact, the corresponding regulation in the Higher Education Act must be interpreted in such a way that, in addition to women, men and people who see themselves as neither men nor women can hold positions as equal opportunities officers.
My news
34 mins ago
Large-scale operation after a shooting threat at Erfurt school
New building regulations: heat pumps on property borders
1 hour ago
Baby on balcony: mother doesn't go to psychiatric hospitalread
1 hour ago
24-year-old arrested after multiple crimes read
CDU parliamentary group against ban on internal combustion enginesread
Ramelow criticizes the perception of East Germans
Regulation should be improved
State Secretary Carsten Feller (SPD), who is responsible for the Higher Education Ministry, fundamentally welcomed the court's ruling.
“The Higher Education Act is and remains a clear compass for the work of Thuringian universities,” he said after the decision was announced.
At the same time, however, he admitted that it was politically necessary to address the question of whether it was right to exclude people who do not see themselves as women or men from the office of equal opportunities officer.
“I actually see that there is a regulatory gap,” said Feller.
The Left parliamentary group also approved the decision.
“This is a positive signal and strengthens the democratic structures at Thuringian universities,” said the parliamentary group’s university policy spokesman, Christian Schaft.
The fact that the AfD sued the law at all shows “that it is a deeply anti-science party that is only a thorn in the side of issues such as equality and diversity.”
dpa