German supreme court rejects bid to outlaw far-right party

BERLIN – Germany's supreme court has rejected a lawmakers' bid to outlaw a far-right party accused of promoting a racist and anti-Semitic agenda.

Andreas Vosskuhle, chief justice of the Federal Constitutional Court, said Tuesday that even though the party had unconstitutional goals, "there are currently no concrete indications ... that its actions will lead to success."

The German parliament's upper house applied for the ban at the end of 2013. It was the second attempt to ban the National Democratic Party, better known by its German acronym NPD.

In 2003, the court rejected a previous application because paid government informants within the group were partially responsible for evidence against it.