Headnotes to the Judgment of the Second Senate of 10 June 2014 - 2 BvE 2/09, 2 BvE 2/10 - 1. Pursuant to Article 54 sec. 1 of the Basic Law, it is the exclusive task of the Federal Convention to elect the Federal President; its proce- dures are meant to emphasise the particular dignity of this office. 2. Pursuant to Article 54 of the Basic Law, the members of the Federal Convention are granted only limited rights apart from participating in the election. Their legal position does not correspond to the position of the members of the Parliament (Bundestag). 1/29 FEDERAL CONSTITUTIONAL COURT Pronounced - 2 BvE 2/09 - on 10 June 2014 - 2 BvE 2/10 - Kunert Amtsinspektor as Registrar of the Court Registry IN THE NAME OF THE PEOPLE In the proceedings on the applications I. 1. to declare a) that respondent no. 1 violated the applicant’s rights under an analogous appli- cation of Article 38 section 1 sentence 2 of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz - GG) by not giving the applicant the opportunity to state reasons for or to speak on the subject of his motion concerning the introduction of own draft rules of pro- cedure for the Federal Convention, which he had introduced together with the members of the Federal Convention Apfel, Dr. Müller, and Hesselbarth during the 13th Federal Convention, b) that respondent no. 1 violated the applicant’s rights under an analogous appli- cation of Article 38 section 1 sentence 2 of the Basic Law by not putting to a vote in the plenary the motion to place the item “Presentation of the Candi- dates” on the agenda of the 13th Federal Convention, which had been intro- duced by the applicant and the members of the Federal Convention Apfel, Dr. Müller, and Hesselbarth, c) that respondent no. 2 violated the applicant’s rights under an analogous appli- cation of Article 38 section 1 sentence 2 of the Basic Law by adopting the res- olution that there must be no oral explanations for or debate on motions on the rules of procedure and other motions, d) that respondent no. 2 violated the applicant’s rights under an analogous appli- cation of Article 38 section 1 sentence 2 of the Basic Law by carrying out the election of the Federal President even though its composition was improper, 2/29 e) that the election of the Federal President by the 13th Federal Convention is invalid and that a repeat election should have been held and applications for preliminary injunctions Applicant: Udo Pastörs, Member of the Landtag, Dorfstraße 7, 19249 Lübtheen - authorised representative: Rechtsanwalt Peter Richter, LL.M., Birkenstraße 5, 66121 Saarbrücken - Respondent: 1. The President of the German Bundestag as Chair of the 14th Federal Convention, Platz der Republik 1, 11011 Berlin, 2. 14th Federal Convention, represented by the President of the German Bundestag, Platz der Republik 1, 11011 Berlin - authorised representative: Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Zeh, Marktstraße 10, 72359 Dotternhausen - Joined Parties: 1. Holger Apfel, Member of the Landtag, Bernhard-von-Lindenau-Platz 1, 01067 Dresden, 2. Dr. Johannes Müller, Member of the Landtag, Bernhard-von-Lindenau-Platz 1, 01067 Dresden - authorised representative: Rechtsanwalt Peter Richter, LL.M., Birkenstraße 5, 66121 Saarbrücken - - 2 BvE 2/09 -, II. 2. to declare a) that respondent no. 1 violated the applicant’s rights under an analogous appli- cation of Article 38 section 1 sentence 2 of the Basic Law by not giving the ap- plicant the opportunity to orally state reasons for his motion –introduced by the applicant and the members of the Federal Convention Apfel and Dr. Müller during the 14th Federal Convention on 30 June 2010 – to bar the dele- gates from the Laender (federal states) Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Bran- denburg, Berlin, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westfalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia from participating in debates and votes in the 14th Federal Convention on the grounds that they had been in- correctly elected by the respective Landtage (state parliaments), 3/29 b) that respondent no. 1 violated the applicant’s rights under an analogous appli- cation of Article 38 section 1 sentence 2 of the Basic Law by not putting to a vote in the plenary the motion – introduced by the applicant and members of the Federal Convention Apfel and Dr. Müller – to bar the delegates from the Laender Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Brandenburg, Berlin, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westfalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia from participating in deliberations and votes in the 14th Federal Convention on the grounds that they had been incorrectly elected by the re- spective Landtage, c) that respondent no. 1 violated the applicant’s rights under an analogous appli- cation of Article 38 section 1 sentence 2 of the Basic Law by not giving the ap- plicant the opportunity to orally state reasons for his motion concerning the in- troduction of own draft rules of procedure for the Federal Convention, which he had introduced together with the members of the Federal Convention Apfel and Dr. Müller during the 14th Federal Convention, d) that respondent no. 1 violated the applicant’s rights under an analogous appli- cation of Article 38 section 1 sentence 2 of the Basic Law by not putting to a vote in the plenary the motion concerning the introduction of own draft rules of procedure for the Federal Convention, which the applicant had introduced with the members of the Federal Convention Apfel and Dr. Müller, e) that respondent no. 1 violated the applicant’s rights under an analogous appli- cation of Article 38 section 1 sentence 2 of the Basic Law by not giving the ap- plicant the opportunity to orally state reasons for the motion to allow each enti- ty entitled to nominate candidates to name one election observer to be present during the counting of the votes, which the applicant had introduced together with the members of the Federal Convention Apfel and Dr. Müller during the session of the 14th Federal Convention on 30 June 2010, f) that respondent no. 2 violated the applicant’s rights under an analogous appli- cation of Article 38 section 1 sentence 2 of the Basic Law in conjunction with Article 20 section 2 of the Basic Law by denying the motion to allow each enti- ty entitled to nominate candidates to name one election observer to be pre- sent during the counting of the votes, which the applicant had introduced to- gether with the members of the Federal Convention Apfel and Dr. Müller, g) that respondent no. 2 violated the applicant’s rights under an analogous appli- cation of Article 38 section 1 sentence 2 of the Basic Law by adopting the res- olution that there must be no oral s for or debate on motions on rules of proce- dure and other motions, 4/29 h) that respondent no. 2 violated the applicant’s rights under an analogous appli- cation of Article 38 section 1 sentence 2 of the Basic Law by carrying out the election of the Federal President even though its composition was false, a n d i) to declare the election of Christian Wulff as Federal President by the 14th Federal Convention to be invalid and to order a repeat election, or, in the al- ternative, to declare that the election of Christian Wulff as Federal President by the 14th Federal Convention is invalid and application for a preliminary injunction Applicant: Udo Pastörs, Member of the Landtag, Dorfstraße 7, 19249 Lübtheen - authorised representative: Rechtsanwalt Peter Richter, LL.M., Birkenstraße 5, 66121 Saarbrücken - Respondent: 1. The President of the German Bundestag as Chair of the 14th Federal Convention, Platz der Republik 1, 11011 Berlin, 2. 14th Federal Convention, represented by the President of the German Bundestag, Platz der Republik 1, 11011 Berlin - authorised representative: Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Zeh, Marktstraße 10, 72359 Dotternhausen - Joined Parties: 1. Holger Apfel, Member of the Landtag, Bernhard-von-Lindenau-Platz 1, 01067 Dresden, 2. Dr. Johannes Müller, Member of the Landtag, Bernhard-von-Lindenau-Platz 1, 01067 Dresden - authorised representative: Rechtsanwalt Peter Richter, LL.M., Birkenstraße 5, 66121 Saarbrücken - - 2 BvE 2/10 - the Federal Constitutional Court - Second Senate - with the participation of Justices President Voßkuhle, Lübbe-Wolff, 5/29 Gerhardt, Landau, Huber, Hermanns, Kessal-Wulf held on the basis of the oral hearing of 11 February 2014: Judgment: 1. The proceedings are joined for a joint decision. 2. Applications 1. d) and e) as well as 2. h) and i) are dismissed as inad- missible. 3. As for the rest, the applications are rejected. 4. This renders moot the applications for preliminary injunctions. R e a s o n s : The Organstreit proceedings (dispute between constitutional organs) concern the 1 rights of a member of the 13th Federal Convention (Bundesversammlung) on the oc- casion of the re-election of Horst Köhler as Federal President, as well as of the 14th Federal Convention, which elected Christian Wulff as Federal President. A. I. 1. The election of the Federal President is governed by Art. 54 of the Basic Law 2 (Grundgesetz – GG): (1) The Federal President shall be elected by the Federal Conven- tion without debate. Any German who is entitled to vote in Bun- destag elections and has attained the age of forty may be elected. (2) […] (3) The Federal Convention shall consist of the Members of the Bundestag and an equal number of members elected by the parlia- ments of the Laender on the basis of proportional representation. (4) The Federal Convention shall meet not later than thirty days be- fore the term of office of the Federal President expires or, in the case of premature termination, not later than thirty days after that date.