Rhineland-Palatinate Constitutional Court Rejects AfD Challenge

Rhineland-Palatinate’s Constitutional Court has rejected an application from the AfD parliamentary group challenging amendments to the state’s law on members of parliament and parliamentary groups.

The court in Koblenz found that the amended legislation does not violate the state constitution. Because it ruled as the state’s highest constitutional body, the decision is final.

The changes, introduced in July 2025, require reliability checks for employees of lawmakers and parliamentary groups. Staff members who refuse the check or fail it no longer receive funding. The state parliament’s president decides each case individually.

The Mainz state parliament had entered legally uncharted territory in Germany with the measure. Former state parliament president Hendrik Hering of the Social Democratic Party defended it by saying, “It cannot and must not be the case that enemies of our state and our free democratic basic order are paid with public tax money.”

More than 600 employees have already undergone checks. Authorities found doubts about constitutional loyalty in two cases, while a third employee did not consent to the examination. According to information from dpa, all three worked for the AfD.

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It cannot and must not be the case that enemies of our state and our free democratic basic order are paid with public tax money.