The Administrative Court (VG) of Frankfurt (Oder) has provisionally lifted the renewed ban on the mayor of Hoppegarten, who was represented by DOMBERT Rechtsanwälte. With the restoration of the suspensive effect of the objection, the mayor may resume his office. Remarkably, the decision was made just one day after the application was filed due to the particular urgency.

At the same time, the VG Frankfurt (Oder) once again specifies the requirements for issuing a ban on the performance of official duties against a mayor (VG 2 L 10/25). The reason for the compulsory leave of absence is a dispute between the Hoppegarten municipal council and the mayor due to discrepancies in the drafting of bylaws. For this reason, the Hoppegarten municipal council banned its mayor from conducting official business for a fortnight on 2 January 2025. He could then resume his duties if he gave written assurance that he would carry out certain official acts; otherwise the ban on conducting official business would remain in place.

The VG doubted whether a time limit set from the outset and the formulation of conditions for taking up office could be lawful and emphasised in this context the high legal requirements for a ban on the performance of official duties. Compelling reasons are only given if there is a fear of serious disadvantages in the service or a significant impairment of the service. The dissatisfaction of the municipal representatives with the work of the mayor as well as (individual) poor performance - regardless of whether this is proven or not - are expressly not sufficient for this. Furthermore, a ban on the performance of official duties may not be misused to force the mayor to perform certain official acts.

If there is a political rift between the municipal authorities, the citizens must decide whether the mayor should remain in office as part of a deselection procedure. As the Administrative Court went on to explain, it is problematic if this is circumvented and the citizens are deprived of their mayor. It is problematic to deny directly democratically legitimised mayors the exercise of their office through the misappropriation of civil service law measures by the municipal council. „The forced suspension of a mayor requires profound reasons and must be carefully justified. Between the lines, the administrative court has warned the municipal council to exercise restraint,“ explains Rechtsanwalt Dr Stephan Berndt.

The contact persons for public service law in our practice are the lawyers Prof Dr Klaus Herrmann, Dr Stephan Berndt and lawyers Kristina Dörnenburg and Kristina Gottschalk, LL.M.oec