Overview

• On July 4, the Hamburg Constitutional Court dismissed every procedural complaint from the Volksinitiative “Schluss mit Gendersprache in Verwaltung und Bildung” in a unanimous decision.
• The initiative had gathered about 55,100 signatures for its summer 2024 referendum, falling roughly 10,700 short of the 65,800 required endorsements.
• The court confined its review to process and ruled that challenges over summer holiday timing and the lack of an online participation option were inadmissible or unfounded.
• Judges emphasized that constitutional courts lack jurisdiction over legislative scheduling or methods of citizen engagement in referendums.
• The initiative’s proposed reforms — including postal notifications for all voters and expanding entry stations — were not addressed in the procedural ruling.