News
NRW’s July 2026 Bill Would Give Ministries a Power to Regulate Civil Servants’ Appearance
Religious Features Could Be Restricted Only Where They Could Objectively Undermine Trust in Neutrality; There Is No General Headscarf Ban, and Individual Instructions Would Still Rest on Section 34 BeamtStG
Germany · Düsseldorf |
Editorial note
This item explains the provision on civil servants’ appearance in a bill put before the state parliament in July 2026, and its scope with regard to religious freedom.
Official position
A public-service reform bill of the North Rhine-Westphalia state government, dated 7 July 2026, would add a new section 45a to the state Civil Servants Act. The bill also covers many other matters, including working time, allowances and pensions. [1]
Official position
Under the proposed section, the supreme authority responsible for a given career track could set out details of civil servants’ outward appearance by regulation. Such a regulation could require that a feature that can be taken off at once be removed while on duty, that a permanent feature be covered, or that it be removed where no other way of meeting the requirements exists. [1]
Official position
Under the draft, features of appearance with a religious or ideological meaning could be restricted or prohibited only where they are objectively capable of undermining trust in the civil servant’s neutral conduct of office. The bill does not mention the headscarf or any other garment by name. [1]
Legal text
The same test appears in section 34 of the federal Civil Servants’ Status Act. According to the bill’s explanatory memorandum, that provision was introduced in 2021 after a 2017 ruling of the Federal Administrative Court required a specific statutory basis; the states may set out the details in their own law. [2][1]
Official position
In its explanatory memorandum, the government states that outward appearance strongly influences trust in the neutrality of those who exercise state authority, and that this matters particularly, though not only, for the police. The existing judicial neutrality act for judges and prosecutors remains separately in force. [1]
Scope with Regard to Religious Freedom
DinAtlas interpretation
The bill does not introduce a general headscarf ban. The proposed section 45a provides a power to set out details of outward appearance by regulation; what would be restricted in practice depends on ministerial regulations that have not yet been issued. According to the bill’s explanatory memorandum, however, instructions in individual cases can continue to be given, as under current law, directly on the basis of section 34 of the federal Civil Servants’ Status Act. [1][2]
Reported by the source
According to the state parliament’s official record, the bill was referred after its first reading on 15 July, with the votes of all parliamentary groups, to the relevant committees, led by the Budget and Finance Committee. [3]
Editorial note
On 16 October, DinAtlas checked the state parliament’s resolution records published up to its 133rd sitting on 15 October 2026; they contain no plenary step on the bill after the first reading. The outcome of the committee stage cannot be seen from these records, and the form in which the bill may be adopted is not yet known.
Related pages
Sources3
Each paragraph shows what kind of statement it is and which source it rests on.
Gesetz zur Modernisierung des öffentlichen Dienstes in Nordrhein-Westfalen – weitere Maßnahmen (Drucksache 18/20439)
https://www.landtag.nrw.de/portal/WWW/dokumentenarchiv/Dokument/MMD18-20439.pdf
Beamtenstatusgesetz (BeamtStG), § 34
Beschlussprotokoll der 127. Sitzung des Landtags Nordrhein-Westfalen am 15. Juli 2026 (PlBPr 18/127)
https://www.landtag.nrw.de/portal/WWW/dokumentenarchiv/Dokument/MMPB18-127.html