More than 1,000 German lawyers, judges, prosecutors and other jurists have signed an open letter calling on Germany’s political institutions to begin proceedings aimed at banning the Alternative for Germany (AfD), arguing that the party represents a threat to the country’s constitutional democratic order. The appeal was organised by the Republican Lawyers’ Association (Republikanischer Anwältinnen- und Anwälteverein, RAV), a German legal association associated with progressive and left-wing legal circles. The justice committee of the Thuringian state parliament has scheduled a public hearing on a possible AfD ban for September 30, 2026, at the request of the Die Linke group. Under Germany’s Basic Law, only the Federal Constitutional Court has the authority to ban a political party. The call for an AfD ban comes weeks before state elections in Saxony-Anhalt on September 6, 2026 and in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin on September 20.