At the beginning of the pandemic, the opposition from Lower Saxony’s state government felt insufficiently informed about regulations. Parliament is now more closely involved in this, but does not see it as an obligation.
That is precisely why the Greens and the FDP stuck to their lawsuit. They demand clarification from the state court in Bückeburg that there is an obligation to provide information. It cannot be that the government decides at its own discretion about the involvement of the state parliament, is the allegation.
Why is the county council informed but the state parliament not?
At a first court hearing, the State Chancellery referred to the time pressure under which the ordinances would arise. Since these are constantly updated within a few weeks and nothing is stipulated for a long time, parliamentary participation was guaranteed through the regular sessions of the state parliament. The President of the State Court of Justice questioned why the government informed the district council in advance about the draft ordinances, but not the state parliament. The government said that at the time there was no obligation to provide information. Internal decision-making processes do not have to be disclosed to the state parliament before they are concluded in order to provide the opposition with a target.
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The accusation: Parliament was not always informed in good time about new Corona regulations in April and May. 1 min
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The court sees a fundamental duty to provide information
Normally – the President of the Court has already made this clear – the state parliament should have been informed about ordinances of the scope of the corona regulations in any case in order to be able to exert influence. The court wanted to examine whether this obligation could also be fulfilled with publication, given the short-term nature of the Corona ordinances.
Althusmann sees no more reason for complaint
With a view to the upcoming court ruling, Minister of Economics and Vice-Prime Minister Bernd Althusmann (CDU) declared in the state parliament on Friday that a sensible mode of parliamentary participation had been found for nine months. “It is not clear where the deficit should be now.” The judgment will bring clarity to this. “It goes without saying that it is important to us to teach extensively and at an early stage.” The government continues to rely on trusting cooperation with the opposition.
Red-black prevents an urgent decision
The state government gave way in early summer when the opposition demanded an urgent decision from the court. Since then, she has informed the state parliament in advance about the content of changes to the Corona ordinances. There are also regular special sessions of the state parliament on corona policy.
