Minority Secretariat

The German Basic Law (Grundgesetz) prohibits any form of discrimination based on language, homeland and origin (Article 3, paragraph 3, first sentence of the German Basic Law). This is binding for the legislator, for the administration on all levels of the German state and for the judiciary. There is no specific minority article in the German Basic Law so far. The Minority Council, however, has been campaigning for incorporating a minority article into the German Basic Law.  

Further federal legislation: Federal Election Law and Party Law

Also the Federal Election Law and the Federal Party Law contain provisions for the protection and support of the national minorities.

The so-called five-percent-clause, according to which only those parties are taken into account that achieve at least five percent of the votes or that achieve a direct mandate in at least three election districts, does not apply to the parties of the national minorities (Article 6, paragraph 3, second sentence of the Federal Election Law). The Federal Election Law also provides for special arrangements in regard to the proposals for district lists and for the regional lists (Article 20, paragraph 2, third sentence; Article 27, paragraph 1, fourth sentence).

According to the Federal Party Law the parties of the national minorities are privileged in regard to state funding and in regard to raising funds by way of foreign donations (Article 18, paragraphs 3 and 4, Article 25, paragraph 2, sub 3 b Federal Party Law)