## Facts

- The Federal Government sought a declaration that the Socialist Reich Party of Germany (SRP), founded in 1949, was unconstitutional and should be dissolved.
- The SRP was publicly characterized as a neo-Nazi party and a successor organization to the NSDAP, with many former NSDAP members among its leadership and supporters.
- The party replicated National Socialist-style organizational features, including a paramilitary wing and a youth organization, and used authoritarian internal structures.
- The SRP achieved notable electoral success in certain German states by 1951, increasing governmental concern that it threatened the postwar constitutional order.
- The proceeding was a party-ban action under Article 21(2) of the Basic Law and the Federal Constitutional Court Act, filed in November 1951.
- The Federal Constitutional Court’s First Senate decided the case in October 1952.

## Issues

1. Whether the SRP, by its aims or the conduct of its adherents, sought to undermine or abolish the free democratic basic order or endanger the Federal Republic, making it unconstitutional under Article 21(2) of the Basic Law.
2. What constitutes the “free democratic basic order” for purposes of Article 21(2).
3. Whether Article 21(2) is the exclusive constitutional mechanism for banning political parties (as compared to general association-ban provisions).
4. What legal consequences follow from a declaration that a party is unconstitutional, including treatment of replacement organizations, parliamentary mandates, and party assets.

## Decision

- The Court declared the SRP unconstitutional under Article 21(2) and ordered its dissolution.
- The Court prohibited the formation of replacement organizations intended to continue the SRP’s activities.
- The Court ordered transfer of the SRP’s assets to the Federation for charitable purposes.
- The Court held that SRP members’ mandates in the federal and state parliaments were forfeited and could not be filled through party-list succession.
- The Court treated the case as a central application of postwar constitutional safeguards against parties seeking to reestablish a regime comparable to National Socialism.

## Legal Principles

- A political party is unconstitutional under Article 21(2) if, by its aims or adherents’ conduct, it seeks to undermine or abolish the free democratic basic order or to endanger the state’s existence.
- The “free democratic basic order” is a constitutional order that rejects violence and arbitrary rule and is grounded in popular self-determination, freedom, and equality; it includes at least: respect for human rights, popular sovereignty, separation of powers, governmental accountability, legality of administration, judicial independence, a multiparty system, and equal opportunity for parties, including the right to a constitutional opposition.
- Article 21(2) is lex specialis for political parties and vests exclusive authority to declare a party unconstitutional in the Federal Constitutional Court, preventing party bans by ordinary executive or administrative action.
- Article 21’s party requirements are directly applicable; severe departures from democratic internal party organization may evidence an anti-democratic orientation relevant to Article 21(2), and party rules permitting dissolution at the unchecked discretion of an authoritarian leadership violate the constitutional requirement of internal democracy.
- A party-ban judgment may carry consequential orders to prevent circumvention, including prohibition of dependent or replacement organizations, forfeiture of mandates held under the party banner, and disposition of assets as provided by statute.

## Conclusion

The Court held that the SRP’s objectives and adherents’ conduct targeted abolition of the constitutional democratic order and therefore warranted the exceptional remedy of a party ban, while also establishing an influential definition of the free democratic basic order and confirming that only the constitutional court may impose such bans and their attendant consequences.


Bundesregierung v. Socialist Reich Party (S.R.P.), 2 BVerfGE 1 (Ger. 1952)