Section VI: The Administrative Apparatus

Article 66

(1) The administrative apparatus shall be organised in an unbureaucratic manner and in a democratic and social spirit in accordance with the Constitution and the law.

(2) The boroughs shall be afforded a share of administration in accordance with the principles of self-government.

Article 67

(1) The Senate shall take care of those matters via the central administrative apparatus which are of importance for the city as a whole, or which urgently require uniform execution because of their specific nature.

(2) The boroughs shall assume all other administrative tasks. The Senate may issue guidelines and general administrative provisions relating to the activities of the boroughs. It shall supervise their application and the lawfulness of the administrative apparatus.

(3) The detailed delimitation of spheres of competence must be the subject of a law. By law, Senate tasks may be delegated to the boroughs for implementation under specialist supervision.

(4) The Senate shall be authorised to delegate additional individual tasks to the boroughs for implementation under specialist supervision. Civil servants in the borough administrations may be called upon to supervise schools.

(5) Individual borough tasks may be exercised by one or several boroughs.

Article 68

(1) The borough administrations shall be afforded the opportunity to comment on fundamental questions of administration and legislation.

(2) For this purpose joint discussions between the Governing Mayor and the Mayor with the Borough Mayors or deputy Borough Mayors as representatives of the Borough Offices (Council of Mayors) shall be held at regular intervals, at least once a month.

(3) All details shall be regulated by the Administration Act (Gesetz über die Verwaltung).

Article 69

A Borough Assembly (Bezirksverordnetenversammlung) shall be elected in each borough. It shall elect the members of the Borough Offices. Details shall be the subject of a law.

Article 70

(1) The Borough Assembly shall be elected at the same time as the House of Representatives in a general, equal, secret and direct election. All German nationals who have reached the age of 16 by the day of the election, are domiciled in the borough in question, and have been domiciled in Berlin for at least three months are entitled to vote. Nationals of another Member State of the European Union shall also be entitled to vote and eligible for election under the same conditions as German nationals. All details shall be the subject of the Election Act.

(2) The Borough Assembly shall consist of 55 members. No seats shall be allotted to parties receiving less than three percent of the votes cast.

Article 71

The legislative period of the Borough Assemblies shall also end on expiry of the legislative period of the House of Representatives.

Article 72

The Borough Assembly shall be a body of the borough’s self-government; it shall supervise the administration of the borough and decide on the budget of the borough, as well as taking decisions in matters assigned to it.

Article 73

(1) The Borough Assembly shall set up committees to assist in implementing its tasks.

(2) Once more detailed legal provisions have been made, the committees may also comprise citizen deputies (Bürgerdeputierte), in addition to the Members of the Borough Assembly. The citizen deputies shall be elected by the Borough Assembly; they shall hold honorary positions.

Article 74

(1) The Borough Office shall be composed of the Borough Mayor and the Borough Councillors (Bezirksstadträte), one of whom shall be simultaneously elected Deputy Borough Mayor. Borough Councillors shall be nominated by the parliamentary groups according to their relative strength in the Borough Assembly, which will be calculated using the d’Hondt highest-average formula. Irrespective of the overall composition of the Borough Office, joint nominations by several parliamentary groups for the election of a Borough Mayor shall be regarded as nominations by one parliamentary group. Details shall be the subject of a law.

(2) The Borough Office shall be the administrative authority of the borough; it shall represent Berlin in matters concerning its borough.

Article 75

(1) The borough administration shall be organised in accordance with a law.

(2) The Borough Mayor shall be subject to the authority of the Governing Mayor. The Borough Mayor shall exercise service supervision over the members of the Borough Office. Each member of the Borough Office shall run his/her department on his/her own responsibility. Divergent opinions among members of the Borough Office shall be settled by the Borough Office.

Article 76

The Borough Assembly may dismiss a member of the Borough Office with a two-thirds majority of the members of the Borough Assembly before expiry of his/her term of office. Details shall be the subject of a law.

Article 77

(1) All appointments, transfers and dismissals in the public service shall be carried out by the Senate. This right shall be transferred to the Borough Offices with respect to the boroughs.

(2) If the parties concerned cannot agree the Senate shall decide on transfers from one borough to another, from the central administration to a borough administration, or vice versa, after hearing the parties concerned. For the purpose of a general balance of staff in the Berlin administrative apparatus, the Senate may also overturn an agreement between the parties concerned, after hearing them.