An assembly is a local gathering of several people for a collective discussion or demonstration aimed at participating in the formation of public opinion. The right to demonstrate / assemble ("freedom of assembly") is guaranteed by Article 8 of the Basic Law:
- All Germans have the right to assemble peacefully and without weapons without registration or permission.
- For assemblies in the open air, this right can be restricted by law or on the basis of a law.
The specific regulations on this are set out in the Assembly Act of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (Versammlungsgesetz NRW - VersG NRW).
Anybody wishing to organize a public assembly in the open air must notify the competent district police authority at least 48 hours before the invitation to the assembly (§ 10 para. 1 sentence 1 VersG NRW).
This is intended to put the police in a position to take the necessary measures to protect the assembly from external disturbances and to avert possible disturbances caused by the assembly for other uses of the public space.
Only if you inform us in good time of the details of the planned assembly can all the necessary preparatory measures (e.g. traffic detour or stopping restrictions) be taken in good time.
You can submit the assembly notification quickly and easily online via the Internet watch of the NRW police.
Alternatively, you can also notify the assembly in writing or by email. Please use the form provided in the download area. In the case of transmission by e-mail, please be sure to use the e-mail address Poststelle.Kleve [at] polizei.nrw.de (Poststelle[dot]Kleve[at]polizei[dot]nrw[dot]de), as this is the only way to ensure processing outside regular business hours!
If you wish to organize an assembly at short notice with less than 48 hours' notice (so-called urgent assembly), you must notify the Kleve district police authority immediately - online via the Internet watch or, if necessary, by telephone. Only assemblies that develop unplanned and without an organizer for an immediate reason (so-called spontaneous assemblies) do not require prior notification (see § 10 VersG NRW).
The holding of an unregistered assembly in the open air, which cannot claim the privilege of a genuine spontaneous assembly, is punishable by law (see § 27 para. 1 VersG NRW).
The task of the assembly authority is to protect the assembly from disruptions and to avert threats to public safety posed by the assembly or third parties to the assembly or its participants (see § 3 para. 1 VersG NRW). Cooperation between the assembly authority or the police and the organizer of the assembly is essential in this regard.
If required by the nature and scope of the assembly, the assembly authority shall offer the person organizing a public assembly or to whom the leadership has been delegated a cooperation meeting in good time to discuss the danger situation and other circumstances that are essential for the proper conduct of the assembly. The cooperation meeting is intended to ensure a mutual exchange of information and build trust.
The organizer of a public assembly is called upon to cooperate with the assembly authority, in particular to provide information about the type, scope and planned course of the event. However, there is no legal obligation to do so (see § 3 para. 3 VersG NRW).
