Grüne on democracy and the state

The Greens want 16-year-olds to be able to vote in state and local elections. A youth council and additional formats are meant to give young people a permanent say. The platform argues that children and young people have a right to participate.

The Greens want young people to vote at age 16. This applies to state and local elections. There should also be a youth council. Young people can have a lasting say there.

The voting age for casting a ballot in state and local elections would drop to 16. Children and young people are to be involved in decisions at every political level and in daycare centers, schools and youth work. A youth council would make participation permanent. The commissioner for children's and youth rights is to continue her work and help implement the constitutional goal on children's rights.

The Greens want greater recognition for volunteering and more discounts tied to the Ehrenamts-Card (volunteer card). The state's support programs are to be pooled and voluntary service years made more attractive.

Many people help for free. The Greens want to thank them. The volunteer card should bring more benefits. People should be able to get it after just one year.

The card is to be available after one year of intensive volunteering. Volunteer work is to count more toward vocational training and university studies. The state's support for civic engagement will be brought together in one central place. More people, including retirees, are to be won over for volunteering. For voluntary service, a pilot project for a voluntary ecological year in skilled trades and more voluntary social year places at schools are planned.

The Greens want a state law to secure long-term funding for initiatives that promote democracy and oppose extremism. The Marburg Democracy Center, the related state program and committed organizations are to be strengthened further. Services are to be expanded and brought more into rural regions.

Many groups in Hesse work for democracy. The Greens want a new law for them. The law should give these groups reliable money. Advice centers should stay for the long term. Rural areas should get more services too.

The platform notes that the Marburg Democracy Center has been developed into a specialist and coordination office. Like the state program against extremism and the initiatives in this field, it is to receive more support. Together with the providers, services are to be expanded and organized in a decentralized way. The continuing-education master's program on counseling in the context of right-wing extremism is to grow as needed.

The Greens want to make local councils more diverse and flexible and involve residents more. To that end, citizens' councils chosen by lot, a public question time and legally secure digital meetings are to become possible. Volunteer council members are to get stronger oversight rights.

The Greens want to change politics in towns and cities. Residents should have more say. There should be citizens' councils. Their members are picked by lot. Meetings should also be possible online. Children's and youth parliaments should become stronger.

Municipalities are to get a legal framework for family-friendly volunteer politics, including digital meetings where locally desired. Local councils should be able to oversee municipal companies and parts of the administration through rights to ask questions and obtain information. For candidates, only a contact address is to be published. Anti-corruption steps are to be examined, such as special commissions at the regional authorities or oversight bodies for procurement. Municipalities are also to get advice on applying social and environmental criteria in procurement, and public question time is to be anchored in the municipal code.

The Greens want to modernize the state administration and cut unnecessary bureaucracy so that planning and implementation become faster. Employees are to get flexible working hours, remote-work rules and up-to-date equipment. Lateral entry into public service is to become easier.

The Greens want to make public offices more modern. Rules and forms that are not needed should go. Then offices can work faster. Staff should be able to work flexibly, also from home. People from other jobs should be able to start in public service more easily.

Plans include flexible working-time models, work-family balance, flat hierarchies and digital office equipment. New rules are to be designed so they do not make procedures more complex, and more transparency in lawmaking is sought. To address the skills shortage, employment and civil-service law are to become more flexible and prior work experience is to count more. Administrative training is to be linked more closely with research. Staff are to be better protected from violence, and anti-discrimination and intercultural skills are to get more room in training.

The Greens want to strengthen the judiciary's independence from the executive and will examine more judicial self-administration and limits on the ministry's power to instruct prosecutors. At the same time, justice-sector jobs are to become more attractive so that positions are filled quickly. This includes better starting pay and modern working conditions.

Courts should be independent of the government. The Greens will look at letting judges manage more themselves. The ministry should be able to give prosecutors fewer orders. Jobs in the justice system should become more attractive. There should be better starting pay and modern workplaces.

Attractiveness is to increase across all areas, from the prison service to court officers and bailiffs to judges and prosecutors. The platform names higher starting pay, swift hiring procedures, a family-friendly environment and more flexible working hours; sabbaticals and lifetime working-time accounts for all justice staff are to be examined. Justice authorities should reflect society's diversity. According to the platform, electronic case files require matching technical equipment in workplaces and courtrooms, plus more training.

The Greens want court proceedings in Hesse to take less time on average. To that end, vacancies are to be filled quickly, video hearings are to become routine, and legal education is to be modernized.

The Greens want faster court cases. Open jobs at courts should be filled quickly. More hearings should take place by video. Law school should also become more modern.

The platform says it will review every measure that could shorten proceedings and identify where more staff are needed. Vacancies at courts and public prosecutors' offices are to be filled as quickly as possible. Video transmission in hearings is to become routine, and the use of artificial intelligence for research and bulk tasks will be examined. For law degrees, a longer standard period of study and an integrated bachelor's degree are to be considered. The judiciary's public communication, mediation and out-of-court arbitration are also to be expanded.

The Greens want to talk with the churches in Hesse about phasing out the Staatskirchenleistungen (historic state payments to churches). The condition is that the federal government first creates a framework for this.

The state pays the churches money every year because of old obligations. These payments should end one day. The Greens want to talk about this with the churches in Hesse. But first the federal government has to make a rule for it.

These are regular payments by the state to the churches that go back to historical claims. The Greens point out that Article 52 of Hesse's constitution provides for ending them through a settlement. Once a federal framework exists, talks with the churches are to begin promptly.