Result: verdict on my lawsuit in Neustadt

First of all, I would like to thank the BFFK (Bund für Freie Kammern) and especially Kai Böddingaus (photo) for his great and energetic support.

You can find more information about my help from the BFFK here:

https://www.bffk.de/wir-ueber-uns/mitglied-des-monats/mitglied-des-monats-dezember-2016-michael-schepers.html

The background:

I've been a photographer for quite a long time and am also a "compulsory member" of the Chamber of Crafts in this regard. I still don't really know why this is the case. On 12.02.2016, I received a contribution notice from the Chamber of Skilled Crafts, which I had simply paid in the past and ignored the injustice. Detailed explanations follow below. This time, however, I didn't want to just accept it and lodged an objection. After a long back and forth, I finally received a notice of objection from the Chamber of Skilled Crafts on 18/05/2016, which was supposed to explain to me why I was wrong in my actions. This decision would have cost me €253.45 if I had lost the case. After further letters and arguments on my part and on the part of the Chamber of Skilled Crafts, the Chamber of Skilled Crafts sent another 40 pages of paper to the court on 8 February 2017 (one day before the hearing!) in order to justify my housekeeping and asset accumulation.

The oral hearing then took place on 09.02.2017. "As this was a public hearing, I can and will publish details of the hearing here. Some had confronted me with the accusation that details and internals of a hearing may not be published."

(..) Unlawful accumulation of assets
From the plaintiff's point of view, a "general" reserve, i.e. one that is not earmarked for a specific purpose, is unlawful in principle. Insofar as this should be an equalization reserve (compensation for deficits on the revenue side), this is too high from the plaintiff's point of view. Measured against the planned annual expenditure of EUR 19,984,250 for 2016, this corresponds to 21.41 percent. The defendant will not be able to seriously demonstrate that a drop in contributions in this amount is to be expected this year. The fact that the defendant followed the requirement of estimation accuracy when determining the amount of the reserve is disputed by the plaintiff with ignorance. (..)

(..) "The carrying forward of a substantial profit to new account instead of a pro rata reimbursement of contributions to members is therefore only legally permissible in individual cases if this is economically necessary due to special circumstances."(.)

For copyright reasons, I cannot and may not publish any contradictions from the Hanwerkskammer in this regard.

It is unfortunate that the supposed competencies are not used optimally for photographers. There is a discrepancy between photographers who are registered with the Chamber of Crafts, those who work on a freelance basis and those who are members of the Künstlersozialkasse.

Michael Schepers

On Thursday at 10:00 a.m. on the dot, the time had come. After around 100 pages of written pleadings on our part and a great many letters, emails and faxes, the oral hearing took place in Neustadt an der Weinstraße under case number 4 K 463/16.NW after almost a year of correspondence.

In the first 30 minutes of the hearing, the complete facts of the case were first presented to the court and all members of the court and the Chamber of Skilled Crafts was gradually questioned about the grounds for my complaint. Before the administrative court, however, the Chamber of Skilled Crafts was unable to score points with its explanations. I was very impressed by the presiding judge, who was extremely well prepared for this lawsuit and was also very familiar with paragraphs of the Chamber of Skilled Crafts' financial statutes. In contrast, the Chamber of Skilled Crafts was unsure of its own financial statutes. After very long statements from the Chamber of Skilled Crafts regarding the financial situation, I also wanted to comment on this. Unfortunately, I was repeatedly interrupted by the Chamber of Skilled Crafts representative. It was only after admonitions from the chairman that I was able to express my opinions and hand over to Mr. Böddinghaus (Chairman of the BFFK). In the end, the Chamber of Skilled Crafts had to accept that the more and the more verbose - but also remarkably imprecise - attempts were made to justify the figures, the greater the doubts would become. Thus, after a very short time, in addition to the question of unlawful capital formation, the question arose as to whether the chamber had followed the principle of budgetary truthfulness when drawing up the budget and balance sheets. The court made it unmistakably clear that the action could also be upheld due to a breach of this principle.

In the end, the representative of the Chamber of Skilled Crafts declared in the courtroom that the contested contribution notice was hereby immediately revoked and that the HWK would also pay the court costs. The attempt to justify the financial management of the HWK Pfalz before the administrative court thus came to an end after a short time.

After the hearing, the representative of the Chamber of Crafts made me an offer to work together to improve the Chamber of Crafts, which I think is remarkable and good. I certainly have my doubts as to whether the Chamber of Skilled Crafts as it currently exists makes sense. Nevertheless, I would like to be prepared for such a discussion. Any photographer is welcome to send me their wishes and ideas by e-mail.

If talks were to actually take place, I would of course like to know from you: what can we change?
What can the chambers of crafts and trades do better? What can the HWK do for us photographers?
I am asking you for constructive ideas and not just empty slogans such as "abolish" or "saw off" or similar. This will not help in the discussions.

As of August 2023, the Chamber of Skilled Crafts has only made contact through demands for money and fee notices. This approach underlines the impression that the Chamber of Skilled Crafts primarily pursues its own interests and behaves like a self-service store.

Michael Schepers

Here are a few suggestions for improvement:
(as of 10.02.2017)

• ▪️Erkundungen and information from the chambers of trade on current photographic trends, such as aerial photography.
• ▪️Prävention of undeclared work and raising awareness of unregistered photographers at the Chamber of Crafts.
• ▪️Obwohl photographers are obliged to join the HWK, only 50% of the photographers are members. The remaining photographers either work on a freelance basis or are members of the IHK, KSK, although they carry out similar or even completely identical photographic work.
• ▪️Informationen for the artists' social security fund for craft photographers.
  Visa information for assignments abroad, especially in countries such as America.
• ▪️Unterstützung in dealing with the authorities through advice and recommendations from the Chamber of Skilled Crafts.
• ▪️Pressearbeit for the general promotion of photographers.

I love openness and transparency, so here are the cost statements for the lawsuit:

Procedural fee, §§ 3, 34, 52 GKG: 105€
Opposition proceedings fee if the action is lost: €253.45
Contribution notice from the Chamber of Crafts € 165
My expenses approx. 250€ (incl. public relations)
BFFK: membership possible from 50€
My time: not included.

Conclusion: It was a hard and rocky road, which can certainly be seen as absolutely negative financially (even though I won). But if the future talks WITH the Chamber of Crafts take place and lead to a positive outcome, I am very pleased to have achieved something for ALL photographers.

Michael Schepers

By the way, here is some more information from 2020

By the way, there will be a new lawsuit every year, I promise!

This year, the next one is in the pipeline / SEP. 2023

Last week, the Neustadt Administrative Court ruled in favor of my lawsuit against the Palatinate Chamber of Crafts (HWK). This is not the first time that I have had to take legal action against the HWK. Back in 2016/2017, I successfully filed a lawsuit against their fee collection. At the heart of my concerns is the question of whether the HWK has set aside inappropriately high provisions. I am firmly convinced that this is the case, which is why I took legal action against the contribution notice sent to me. I have not yet seen any other method at this point. But there will be more on this in 2023, I promise!

It was remarkable that the HWK made changes to its budget after the first ruling. Nevertheless, this did not seem to be enough. The Federal Association of Independent Chambers, which supported me in this legal battle, stated that the current ruling was a logical consequence of the gross errors of craftsmanship in the correction of the budget. It is worrying when I see how inadequately the main representatives of the skilled trades deal with their members' contributions. The association therefore urges the Chamber of Skilled Crafts to draw the necessary consequences and ensure that the necessary competence is guaranteed with regard to the administration of contributions and budget planning.

Till Mischler, Managing Director of the HWK, expressed his displeasure at the court ruling and emphasized that the HWK acts transparently. He pointed out that the chamber even publishes balance sheets, although it is not obliged to do so.
(...) In this context, I would like to point out in detail that I only received the documents requested by me for my first lawsuit at very short notice, namely exactly ONE day before the scheduled court hearing. Such a tight deadline naturally leaves little room for adequate preparation or a thorough review of the documents. Such a procedure inevitably raises the question of the transparency and fairness of the process. It is vital that all parties involved, particularly where legal issues are involved, are given sufficient time and the necessary information to adequately prepare for the hearing. I do not want to evaluate this further, but I think it is important to emphasize this point. Anyone who knows this information can and should form their own view of the situation and put the circumstances into the context of the overall situation.(...)

In contrast to other chambers, the HWK der Pfalz has debts that mainly result from the construction of the vocational training center in Kaiserslautern. Mr. Mischler is of the opinion that the earmarked reserves are proper and at an appropriate level. It remains to be seen whether the HWK will take action against the ruling. In order to make a decision on this matter, he would like to await the written reasons for the ruling. At the same time, the general assembly of the HWK has already approved a revised budget for 2018, in which the provisions are now accounted for differently. Money will of course be kept, no wonder.