Neo-Nazi lawyer in the AfD faction: What's behind it?

The AfD district parliamentary group in Konstanz has employed a lawyer with a right-wing extremist background. The lawyer, Matthias B., has been active in the neo-Nazi scene for around 20 years and was formerly an official of the neo-Nazi party The Third Way and a candidate for the NPD. In Bavaria he was prohibited from completing a legal traineeship due to concerns about constitutional fidelity. Matthias B. was also part of a neo-Nazi organization that was banned in 2014. After his legal clerkship in Saxony, B. now works as a lawyer specializing in criminal law.

The AfD district council group planned to put various asylum issues on the agenda, including a work requirement for asylum seekers. However, the district administrator rejected these issues, and the Freiburg administrative court agreed with him because the district council was not responsible. SWR's inquiries to Matthias B. and the AfD remained unanswered. It remains unclear whether he represented the AfD in other cases in Baden-Württemberg. At the same time, the party tried to put similar asylum issues on the agenda in the Rhine-Neckar and Waldshut district councils.

Legal disputes

Another aspect concerns the rejection of Matthias B. for his traineeship in Bavaria, which was legal, as the decision of the Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG) confirms. Matthias B. had many years of anti-constitutional activity, ranging from membership in the NPD and a function in the “Free Network South” to involvement with The Third Way. The President of the Bamberg Higher Regional Court rejected his application for admission to the traineeship in March 2020. B. then sued against this rejection, but the Würzburg administrative court classified his political activities as being against the free, democratic basic order.

Matthias B. also tried to apply for a traineeship in Thuringia and Saxony, but without success. The Saxon Constitutional Court ruled in favor of B. and ordered his retroactive employment in Saxony. He has now passed the second state examination and is working as a lawyer in Bavaria. However, B. would like to establish that the rejection in Bavaria was unlawful. The BVerwG allowed the appeal due to the fundamental importance of the case.

During the course of the hearing, one of the issues discussed was whether activities for a legal but unconstitutional party can be taken into account when being admitted to the traineeship. The BVerwG determined that trainees are also part of the administration of justice and are not allowed to act against the basic values ​​of the constitution. The path through the courts for Matthias B. now appears to be over, as the Federal Constitutional Court had already rejected a constitutional complaint.