PETA has failed in its fight to become a legitimate organisation in the eyes of the law in a major part of Germany.
The Stuttgart Administrative Court dismissed a complaint by animal rights activists, after PETA failed to get recognised as a legitimate body in Stuttgart.
The court has stated that PETA does not meet the recognition requirements of the Participation and Association Law Act and that the charity’s board only has three members with full voting rights.
To be considered as a legitimate organisation in Germany the company must be approved by the state’s supervisory authority. It should also be regularly filling annual reports to the state supervisory authority.
The court’s spokesperson, Isabel Kling, said: “The court has clearly clarified that Peta does not meet the recognition requirements of the Act on Participation and Association Law.
She later stated: “The reason was that the Court of First Instance did not allow everyone to be a full-voting member. We share this view. “
According to the Participation Rights Law introduced in May 2015, only members of a democratically structured organisation can claim full voting rights.
PETA currently has nine full members of the board, with only three having a right to vote.
