A municipal council can only effectively decide on a matter if it has been properly listed on the agenda. This has now been decided by the Bavarian Supreme Court (BayObLG) (Ref.: 102 ZRR 9/25 of 10 December 2025).

In this case, the state wanted to use a property in the municipality to house refugees. The municipality wanted to prevent this by purchasing the property. At the hastily convened municipal council meeting, it announced this topic as „Information on the current situation regarding the refugee crisis and possible effects on the municipality“ as an item on the agenda. The purchase of the property was approved and the mayor was authorised to do so - however, two members of the municipal council did not attend the meeting. The resolution was rejected again at two subsequent municipal council meetings and the purchase of the land ended up in court.

The mayor acted without power of representation and the purchase agreement was invalid, the BayObLG has now ruled. It was not clear from the agenda that a decision was to be made on the purchase of the property. The summons had therefore not been duly issued and the municipal council therefore did not have a quorum.