Germany’s Berlin Administrative Court has dismissed a lawsuit aimed at preventing the German government from supplying arms to Israel. The suit was brought forward by several Palestinian applicants and was backed by various human rights organizations, including the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. These groups argued that Germany’s arms exports to Israel violated international and human rights laws, as well as the EU Common Position on Arms Export Control.
According to court documents, the case was dismissed on the grounds that the plaintiffs’ request for preventative interim protection was inadmissible since the potential future decisions by the government could not be foreseen with certainty. Moreover, the court highlighted the discretionary power of the German government in deciding the course of action regarding arms exports.
Per Der Spiegel, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights expressed their disappointment in a press release, noting that their primary aim was to ensure their cases were heard and adjudicated in Germany. They asserted that the main reason for the dismissal was the current lack of authorized German arms exports to Israel.
This legal challenge is part of a broader series of lawsuits targeting German arms exports linked to the conflict in Gaza. In April, a group of human rights lawyers filed another motion in the Berlin Administrative Court, arguing that German arms exports to Israel equated to aiding and abetting alleged genocide in Gaza. Similarly, Nicaragua brought a case to the International Court of Justice, charging that Germany’s arms sales constituted a violation of the Geneva Conventions and implicated Germany in the alleged genocide of Palestinians, as detailed in recent reports.