Online-Petition
The online petition (also: e-petition ) indicates a possibility to file a petition on the Internet.
Since 2005, the submission of an online petition at the German Bundestag for a special formal procedure is possible. Individual states have followed ever since.
Then there are the unofficial online petitions, but have no legal effect and are often not addressed to the parliaments.
Europe
The Committee on Petitions of the European Parliament also offers an electronic form.
Federal Republic of Germany
Online petitions to the German Bundestag
The German Bundestag are two types of online petitions: individual petitions and Public Petitions.
History
Before the online petition petitions could be submitted in writing only. They had to be included and written in German the complete address and signature of the petitioner. Other requirements were and are not. After a visit to the Petitions Committee in Scotland, where an online petition system was presented, the Committee decided to adopt this system, first as a pilot for the German Bundestag.
An online petition has been available since September 2005. Since petitions had to be signed by name before, it was not possible until then, file it or mitzuunterzeichnen online. Initially ran the German petitions through a server in Scotland because they had taken over the local petition software from the Edinburgh Napier University. Once the committee had decided in 2007 to transfer the ongoing since autumn 2005 model test in the ongoing operation, went online with its own software on 15 October 2008.
With the rapid spread of the Internet, this type of petition established as a simple and hardly cost-generating vehicle to enhance a (political) concerns expressed. The demands of the cannabis legalization on the improvement of education or the amendment to the Basic Law by a clause for the protection of the German language rich to protest against the withdrawal of a TV series. " Incentive is the mark of 50,000. Who within three weeks found so many Mitzeichner is personally invited by the Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag. "
The 2008 filed by Susanne Wiest petition calling for a Basic Income led before the end of the collapse of the server, why the petition has even been extended for another week. The petition was finally accepted for public hearing in the Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag ( also because of the uncertainty of how many people were excluded by the technical difficulties of the way to support ). The hearing took place on Monday, November 8, 2010, from.
2009, about 70 petitions were received daily, a total of around 20,000. About ten percent of which were submitted online. 2010, approximately 25 percent of the petitions were filed online. There are more than 920,000 registered users ( at 13 December 2010).
Introduction of the online petition system
Since October 2008 there is a separate petition system. The German public online petition system was based until the fall of 2008 as a pilot scheme, which was designed to test whether the system is applicable to Germany, on a system of the Scottish Parliament, so the website public petition of the German Bundestag of International Teledemocracy Centre at Napier University in Edinburgh were provided. Since mid-October 2008, the Bundestag has its own online petition website based on the SMF. Unlike the old system, must now any user who submit the petitions, Simultaneous recording and want to write forum posts, log in to the new system. Here, a verification email will be generated that needs to be answered. Only then the interactive elements are enabled. For read access no registration is necessary.
This also became determined to prevent abuse especially among the co-signatures. In the old Scottish system, it was still possible mitzuzeichnen petitions without registration. Thus, the threshold for a sign-off was lower. But it also was possible that the same petition was repeatedly co-signed by a person. Due to the large crowds the petition website had been repeatedly temporarily unavailable.
Under criticism is also the new system, because it is relatively difficult to use. Individual petitioners and support groups have been published as instructions for beginners.
Initially the system had to be at large rush, especially in the evenings, often failures. However, this was resolved by the end of 2009.
Individual petitions
In the individual petitions may be any ( private ) concerns via online form to send to the Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag. The individual petition is treated anonymously. The data are encrypted before transmission to the Committee and are thus not for third parties of cost.
It is an "electronic signature replacing the " if " the author and whose mailing address is visible and the form made available on the Internet for electronic petitions is used ." For final confirmation of the petition must then be entered instead of the required petition with the conventional handwritten signature at the end of the petition, the name of the complainant in a signature box.
Except for the technical transmission of the procedure for online petitions of the German Bundestag in principle no different from the usual petition process. A -provided Internet online form to facilitate the drafting and submission of the petition text.
Public Petitions
For public petitions the concerns and the reasoning on the Internet at the announcement of the name of the submitter is set. Other people who keep the concern for the right to support these petitions by a " sign-off ". Users can also discuss the petitions in a forum.
Here, the petition text is first made for six weeks online and can be " signed " in this period of any number of other people by specifying its name, provided they have been registered in the system. The more supporters will receive a public petition, the more weight you will thereby be conferred in the following procedure.
From 50,000 supporters in the first four weeks after publication of a petitioner or more petitioners are " heard in public committee meeting. The Committee may decide by a majority of two thirds of the members present, that is apart from this. "Public meetings of the Committee on Petitions are transmitted in Parliament TV. In addition, the program can also be seen on the Internet and can be accessed as video-on -demand on the website of the Bundestag there at any time.
Before a submitted petition is set as a public petition on the Internet for discussion and co-signing, it must meet the criteria for this. This review takes very different time and may be it several months. If a petition has been filed as a public petition, not published because they did not meet the criteria for this, it is still treated in any case by the Committee on Petitions; but then as a single petition.
Online petition to the diets
With the exception of Hesse all states have adopted the electronic submission procedure for petitions, including the Petitions Committee of the North Rhine-Westphalian Landtag.
The Bremen State Parliament (since 2010), the Landtag of Rhineland -Palatinate ( since 2011 ) and the Landtag Schleswig -Holstein know beyond the institution of the public petition, which can be co-signed online. With the exception of the Landtag of Schleswig -Holstein can be discussed via the Public petitions in an online forum.
Not Official Online Petition
An unofficial online petition is not directed to a petition committee. As the open letter, or call it too is an instrument of public relations. The petition is aimed at companies, party (ies ), Parliament (s ) or other institutions and calls on them to do something or to let. Whether the collected signatures will be handed over physically appears secondarily, in other words, it is usually sufficient that the recipient knows how many people have signed the call.
Who " signing " an online petition does so either by email to the petitioner or by entering their name and email address on a web page. The latter makes the unique signature (for example, " Karl Müller, Munich " with no e -mail address is not unique ) and credible ( the beneficiary of the petition could randomly write signatory to find out whether they have actually signed ).
The effect of unofficial online petitions is controversial, not least because the validity of the signatures is difficult to control. E -mail petitions often miss their target because the recipient addresses automatically filter out the often standardized formulated emails. On the other hand, the concern of the internet can be spread quickly. So, for example, reached in 2005 a television viewer through its online petition, the TV station ProSieben " My new friend ," resumed the series due to low viewership remote (9 episodes ) into the program.
A special form of online petition is one in which the signatures are publicly visible. The following example may be mentioned: Published On 20 May 2010 the priests and laity of the diocese of Augsburg, the so-called " Pentecostal Declaration " on the Internet, which was signed by 30 June of 4,132 people, about 800 of them on the first day. Four weeks prior to the declaration Walter Mixa (until then Bishop of Augsburg) has resigned.
Under Writing in open lists show moral courage; because they take potential career disadvantages or hostile action in the professional environment in purchase;.
NGOs such as Campact often use a combination of classic signature collection or letter or postcard campaign with the methods an online petition at major concern. Avaaz achieved success with online campaigns against the proposed draft legislation SOPA ( over 3.4 million signatures) and ACTA ( over 2.3 million ).
Platforms
The official platforms include:
- Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag
The unofficial platforms include:
- Avaaz
- Campact
- Change.org
- OpenPetition