Articles
POLITICAL EXTREMISM: THE FAILED ATTEMPT TO BAN THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF GERMANY NPD IN 2001–2003 AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE TO THE POLISH LEGAL ORDER
The author of the article analyses the causes of the failure of attempts to ban the National Democratic Party of Germany NPD, attempts made at the beginning of the 21st century by the Federal Republic of Germany’s legislative and executive authorities. During the investigation of the matter it turned out that some of the alleged offences that were to have been the basis of making the party illegal were initiated by secret agents controlled by the state’s security services. A blocking minority of judges concluded that this was a reason to dismiss the case. The author puts forward three theses: that the notion of political extremism has lost its descriptive sense, that the qualified majority procedure in the constitutional court’s rulings hinders the protection of the rights of minorities, and that Polish proceedings concerning the activity of political organisations should feature investigations of the involvement of security services in the activities of these entities.