2024-08-05 06:01:45
This is a rarity: There is hardly any tension on the morning before the verdict is announced in Karlsruhe. The decision was circulating on the Internet hours beforehand. There are initial indications of the cause.
The evening before the verdict on the latest electoral reform was announced, the Federal Constitutional Court’s decision could be found on the Internet. According to initial findings, this was probably an oversight, not a hacker attack or the work of a so-called whistleblower. “There are currently indications of a technical cause,” said a court spokesman in Karlsruhe. “The details are being clarified.” The court later announced that the director of the Federal Constitutional Court should clarify the exact circumstances and take appropriate measures to prevent such a case in the future.
The incident is very unusual: On Monday evening, a PDF suddenly appeared that looked like a ruling from the highest German court. Like THE ruling that the traffic light coalition and the opposition, as well as more than 4,000 private plaintiffs, press representatives and other interested parties are waiting for. It is temporarily available on the Federal Constitutional Court’s website. The spokesperson did not confirm whether it was genuine that evening and referred to the announcement. This is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Tuesday. However, the media reported on the content beforehand and politicians commented on it.
The format in which the decision was published too early, presumably due to a glitch, seems strange: as a PDF. The court usually publishes decisions as continuous text on its website. The ruling on electoral reform has been available there since midday – even on the homepage until further publications. The link begins with the words “The Federal Election Law 2023 is largely constitutional”. To the right of this there is the option to download the whole thing as a PDF.
The PDF from Monday evening, which is also available to the German Press Agency, has 72 pages. The printed version, which is distributed in the press room when the announcement begins, has 75. The formatting is slightly different here and there. The PDF also lacks key points from the judgment. The version that can now be officially downloaded has 73 pages – including key points.
The incident is so unusual that the presiding judge of the Second Senate and Vice President of the Court, Doris König, cannot help but comment on it at the beginning of the session: “I assume that we are now eagerly awaiting our statement,” she says after she has announced the court’s fundamental decisions in bullet points. She also points to a possible technical error. “The court is currently examining how this could have happened.”
König then continues with the explanatory introductory statement before the verdict is read out in excerpts. “Because those who have not yet read the verdict probably have not really understood the tenor alone,” says the judge.
The reactions are mild, there can be no talk of malice or ridicule in the court. With a wink, left-wing veteran Gregor Gysi says on the morning before the announcement: “I was pretty excited about the outcome of the proceedings. A small oversight has dampened my excitement somewhat, because you can already guess the decision a little, I would say.”
The deputy chairwoman of the Union parliamentary group, Andrea Lindholz (CSU), apparently finds the fact that the verdict was available on the Internet for a short time hours before it was announced to be more serious. This is very worrying, she explains, “especially at a time when we are so intensively promoting trust in our democratic institutions.”