Bavarian top court rules state intelligence agency may keep monitoring AfD, ending the party's final appeal

The ruling

The Bavarian Administrative Court (BayVGH) ruled on Wednesday that the state's domestic intelligence agency, the Landesamt für Verfassungsschutz, may continue monitoring the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. The court rejected the AfD's application to appeal a lower-court ruling from the Munich Administrative Court, which had already dismissed the party's challenge. Wednesday's decision is final and cannot be appealed further.

The court grounded its decision in statements by the party on remigration, which it said exceeded the bounds of permissible criticism of the constitutional system and amounted to "overthrow fantasies or continued agitation against the free democratic basic order." The judges noted that the questions raised by the AfD had already been settled in case law and that the party's objections did not hold.

The legal path

The surveillance plan was first announced in 2022, based on a 2021 assessment by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. The AfD initially sought an injunction, losing in two instances. In summer 2024, the Munich Administrative Court dismissed the main case after a three-day oral hearing, finding sufficient factual indications of anti-constitutional tendencies within the party. The court at the time cited statements resting on "an ethnic-biological understanding of the people." The presiding judge said the indications of right-wing extremist tendencies were weighty enough that the public could be informed about the monitoring.

The Munich court did not permit an appeal, which the AfD then tried to force through the Bavarian Administrative Court, a move that has now failed.

Certain statements exceeded the measure of permissible criticism of the constitutional system.

Broader context

Several German states have launched similar efforts to monitor the AfD or some of its members on suspicion of seeking to undermine the constitutional order. These measures draw on the restrictive rules on far-right politics adopted after World War II in response to the former Nazi government. The party has consistently resisted such steps, arguing they are not justified.

Internal party tensions

The Bavarian AfD state association is currently in a power struggle. At a state party conference in October, 57 percent of attending members voted to remove a large portion of the incumbent executive board, citing a lack of professionalism. The removal failed because a two-thirds majority was not reached. Federal AfD co-leader Alice Weidel recently called publicly for unity within the state association.

What comes next

The ruling removes the last legal avenue for the AfD in Bavaria. With the decision now unappealable, the state intelligence agency's monitoring, which treats the AfD as a whole-party observation target using intelligence-service means, continues without judicial constraint. Other states pursuing similar surveillance bids will likely watch the Bavarian outcome as a precedent, though each state's legal framework and administrative court system operates independently.