What’s it Iike working for the NationaI LegaI team at FridaysForFuture Germany?

An interview with
Jannis Krüßmann

Who is Jannis Krüßmann?

 Jannis Krüßmann, 22 years old, lives and studies in Bonn, Germany. He is starting his 5th year of Law. He has also been a climate activist for the past five years, which was his impulse to start studying Law. He is now involved with Fridays for Future Germany, co-heading the Legal Team.

Can you explain first your role within Fridays for Future?

In January 2019, I started in my hometown, in Konstanz, with some other friends, and we organised protests with Fridays for Future, copying what Greta Thunberg did. The movement was big in Germany in early 2019, and there were students protesting every Friday. I did this for half a year, but then graduated and left Konstanz. 

Three and a half years ago, I moved to Bonn, and started studying Law. This is when I started being active in the Legal Team of Fridays for Future Germany. We are responsible for handling all legal issues that arise within our protests. We mostly handle protest law. If a local group organizes a protest and receives restrictions from the authorities, we are here to support them.

How did you go from organising protests in your local group, to being on the national Legal Team of Fridays for Future?

I was the one in charge of registering protests in my hometown. We would send an email to the local authorities, saying that we were going to protest that day. We would then discuss with them, especially if they refused because of the location or the traffic. They started negotiating with us and put restrictions, and that point, I didn’t know that they were not allowed to do this. I found out months later, when I saw a court judgement on protest law, and realised that it was different from what we had experienced. Indeed, the only reason why authorities can put restrictions on protests is if there is a safety hazard. Our local authorities probably did not even know much about protest law, but from that point, I started looking at things from another angle. And I realized that it can actually be quite fun to discuss with authorities, especially if you know more than they do.

Why did you decide to pursue Law, and not more environmentally-related studies?

Because of my background in protest law, I realised that if I studied Law, discussing and negotiating with the authorities could be even more fun, especially if I were to be more educated. But back then, I didn't have the idea of going into climate change law or something like this. I wasn't completely sure I wanted to stay in Law. But when I started, I realized that it was actually better than what I was expecting.

Then, in my second semester of studying law, there was a decision made by the German Federal Constitutional Court, which ruled that parts of the German Climate Change Act were unconstitutional because they violated the rights of young people. And at that point, I started realizing that law cannot only be useful for organizing protests, but also for climate action itself. Since then, I have been active within the legal team of Fridays for Future, but also ha e also started eyeing towards climate action and climate litigation.

 Can you describe a situation that you most often have to deal with in the Legal Team?

Most of the time, a local branch comes to us and says that they feel like the authorities are trying to restrict them, but they don't know if it's legal. So we ask for the letter of restrictions from the authorities, which has restrictions such as, do not bring glass bottles, or sticks that are too long, do not block entries, or that they cannot be in the city centre, etc. Most of the time, half of the restrictions from the authorities are unlawful. We then ask them if they want to proceed to court, and file a case, which results in press statements, legal costs, or even suing the city. And then, we move forward with a lawyer who files a motion, so that the court can make a decision before the date of the protest. And we usually win. That always feels good, to see what impact you can have in just a few days, using your legal knowledge.

Has there ever been an instance where you didn't win? 

Sure. Sometimes we lose. In the past two years, there have been more protests on highways in Germany, on the Autobahn. Earlier this year, we had a case in Northern Germany where the local group informed us weeks in advance, that they wanted to do a protest on a highway and asked us how to do it. We put a lot of effort into the legal procedure, but we lost twice. It was not very surprising. But we won in another region last year, so you never really know.

 Is there anything you wish to accomplish with your law degree and with Fridays for Future, and are those goals related or not at all? 

 I very much enjoy what I do now as a volunteer, and I can imagine very well to continue doing this as a lawyer, which is going to be even easier, because then I can just call authorities and say, “I'm a lawyer”. They will take me more seriously than they do now. What I see now about climate change litigation in Germany is also very inspiring because it feels like there is a lot of work to do, and governments make a lot of mistakes. This is also something where lawyers can be needed, together with NGOs and the rest of the society.

 Given the current judicial system, where some cases take years to be completed, do you feel hopeful as a law student?

I see the problems with using the law as an instrument, because it can take years sometimes. We don't have years to act on climate change. By its concept, law is not made for any quick changes. But I think it can still be used if it goes together well with campaigns and protests. 

What would you say is your best memory working with Fridays for Future?

In 2019, when the first protests started in Konstanz, thousands of people joined after a few weeks. Local elections were held a few months later. So there was a lot of attention on us and our demands. That led to the fact that in Konstanz, the city council was the first in Germany to declare a climate emergency. It was a very big thing for us. 

Written by Zoe StyIos