Career Lawyers Notaries Online notarisation Notarized Online Forms

Dr. Nicolas Harding

Location:

Kiel

Secretary’s Office:

Alina Michelle Grewe

Phone:

+49 431 97918-468

Fax:

+49 431 97918-39

Email:

nicolas.harding@bmz-recht.de

VCARD Download

Studied in Kiel; traineeship: Kiel, Berlin and New York, USA. Traineeships at the Office of the Federal President and the German Consulate-General in New York; became a lawyer in 2024

Specialisation: Public law

Dr Nicolas Harding advises clients on public law matters, with a focus on both administrative and constitutional law. On the one hand, he specialises in legal matters relating to the state’s handling of information, in particular the right to freedom of expression under public law. On the other hand, a key focus of his practice lies in handling cases relating to local government law and higher education law. Furthermore, Dr Harding practises in the field of public construction law and renewable energy law, and advises members of the liberal professions on matters of professional and EU law. Thanks to his many years’ experience as a lecturer in civil law, Dr Harding also handles cases relating to public service liability and state liability in both court and out-of-court proceedings. Dr Nicolas Harding lectures at the Alpmann Schmidt law revision course in Kiel and Hamburg. He is the author of numerous legal publications and co-author of the standard work on the right to freedom of expression under public law.

Dr Nicolas Harding is a board member of the Federal Association for Public Law (BÖR). He is also a member of the German Bar Association (Deutscher Anwaltverein), Schleswig-Holstein regional group, a member of the Schleswig-Holstein Law Society (Schleswig-Holsteinische Juristische Gesellschaft e.V.) and a member of the Lorenz-von-Stein Society in Kiel (Lorenz-von-Stein-Gesellschaft zu Kiel e.V.).

Publications

I. Monographs

Government Public Relations on Social Media, Tübingen 2023
- Awarded the 2023 Schleswig Forum Prize for outstanding doctoral theses in the field of public law
- Awarded the 2023 Kiel Doctores Iuris Prize
- Reviews:
  - In: FAZ — 26 September 2023, p. 7 (Stephan Klenner)
  - In: LKV 2023, Issue 33, p. 259 (Tobias Schröter)
  - In: Die Öffentliche Verwaltung 2023, issue 76, pp. 958–959 (Birgit Eberbach-Born)
  - In: NordÖR 2023, p. 374
The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Debt Brake in Schleswig-Holstein, Berlin 2021 (with Florian Becker and Lennart Laude)

II. Book chapters

Risk Prevention in Food Law, Frankfurt am Main 2024
- The Berlin Food Control and Transparency Act (pp. 82–101, co-authored with Florian Becker)
Handbook on the Right to Freedom of Expression under Public Law, Munich 2022
- Section 2(III) – Specific Features of Social Media
- § 3 II 3 – Distinction between the duty of political neutrality and the requirement for objectivity
- Section 4(2) – State advertising measures
- Section 5(1)(3) – The Information Freedom Act (IFG) and other claims under ordinary legislation
- Section 5(2)(1) – State Freedom of Information Acts (IFG)/Transparency Acts and other claims under ordinary legislation
- § 5 III – Grounds for exclusion
Public & Private Enforcement in Food Law, Frankfurt am Main 2022
- Is the fundamental right to informational self-determination still an effective barrier to the disclosure of information by public authorities? (pp. 19–33, co-authored with Marie Holst and Florian Becker)

III. Articles

The duty of political neutrality in parliamentary debate: On the judgement of the Hamburg Constitutional Court of 5 September 2025, Zparl 2026, Issue 1, pp. 83–91
On the Interplay between Public and Private Enforcement in Food Law, LMuR 2026, Issue 1, pp. 16–23 (with Florian Becker)
The amendment to the municipal openness clause – An initial legal assessment, *Die Gemeinde* 2025, Issue 9, pp. 214–218
The right of non-profit organisations to express an opinion, DStR 2025, Issue 26, pp. 1440–1446 (with Simon Meyer)
Powers of expression of local authorities – A review, NVwZ 2025, Issue 5, pp. 292–296 (with Sophie Vanselow)
Trusted Flaggers under the Digital Services Act – An initial legal assessment, MMR 2025, Issue 2, pp. 94–98
Guidance on the acceptance of benefits by local government officials, *Die Gemeinde* 2024, Issue 10, pp. 242–245
On the legal invalidity of the ban on anticoagulants as rodenticides, LMuR 2024, Issue 2, pp. 68–73 (with Florian Becker)
Communicative defence of the constitution and the AfD, NJW 2023, Issue 40, pp. 2911–2915
Access to the files of the Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein, NordÖR 2023, Issue 1, pp. 1–7 (with Florian Becker)
On the Incompatibility with Primary Law and the Constitution of the Berlin LMÜTranspG, LMuR 2023, Issue 1, pp. 3–9 (with Florian Becker)
On the contravention of secondary legislation by the Berlin LMÜTranspG, LMuR 2022, Issue 6, pp. 507–513 (with Florian Becker)
The depoliticisation of government public relations as reflected in the current case law of the Federal Constitutional Court, NVwZ 2022, Issue 23, pp. 1777–1781
“Dirtykitchen”, JURA 2021, Issue 2, pp. 193–200 (with Marie Holst)
The compliance with EU law of the protection of trade names under savings bank law in the event of a merger between a public-law savings bank and a private savings bank, NJOZ 2021, pp. 481–486
The A Party and its problems with the rule of law, ZJS 2021, Issue 1, pp. 65–71
The election campaign in Schleswig-Holstein, JA 2020, Issue 4, pp. 284–292 (with Lennart Laude)
The Characterisation of Government Accounts on Social Media, NJW 2019, Issue 27, pp. 1910–1915
Procedural and substantive hurdles regarding the district levy, NVwZ 2017, Issue 20, pp. 1506–1509 (with Fiete Kalscheuer)
On the admissibility of a local authority packaging tax, NordÖR 2017, Issue 3, pp. 113–116 (with Fiete Kalscheuer)

IV. Comments on Judgments

Higher Administrative Court of Koblenz: No right of the AfD to participate in a political event at a church-run facility, commentary on the decision of the Higher Administrative Court of Koblenz of 5 February 2026 – 10 B 10203/26.Higher Administrative Court, NVwZ 2026, pp. 1141–1142
ECJ: Requirement to provide identification for access to environmental information (Coillte), commentary on the judgment of the ECJ of 15 January 2016 – C-129/24, NJW 2026, pp. 977–978
Freiburg Administrative Court: Unlawful contribution by an AfD city council group in the municipal gazette, commentary on the judgment of the Freiburg Administrative Court of 20 March 2025 – 4 K 5552/24, KommJur 2025, p. 309
Federal Court of Justice (BGH): Energy installations as customer installations, commentary on the decision of the Federal Court of Justice of 13 May 2025 – EnVR 83/20, EnWZ 2025, pp. 326–327
Constitutional Court of Koblenz: Justified breach of the duty of neutrality by the Minister-President (communicative defence of the constitution): Commentary on the judgment of the Constitutional Court of the Rhineland-Palatinate of 2 April 2025 – VGH O 11/24, NVwZ 2025, pp. 928–930
Koblenz Higher Administrative Court: Applicability of analogy and infringement of fundamental rights in the VIG, commentary on the judgment of the Koblenz Higher Administrative Court of 28 June 2024 – 10 A 10901/23.Higher Administrative Court, LMuR 2025, pp. 183–184
Federal Constitutional Court: Constitutionality of the Tübingen packaging tax, commentary on the Federal Constitutional Court’s decision of 27 November 2024 – 1 BvR 1726/23, KommJur 2025, p. 104.
Berlin Administrative Court: Publication of results and assessments of food law inspections on the internet, commentary on the decision of the Berlin Administrative Court of 16 December 2024 – VG 14 L 228/24, LMuR 2025, pp. 131–133
Higher Administrative Court of Lüneburg: Election objection – breach of the duty of neutrality by the mayor, commentary on the decision of the Higher Administrative Court of Lüneburg of 16 September 2024 – 10 LA 84/24, NVwZ 2024, pp. 1682–1684
Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG): Inadmissibility of anonymous Freedom of Information Act (IFG) applications, commentary on the judgment of the Federal Administrative Court of 20 March 2024 – 6 C 8/22, NJW 2024, pp. 2488–2489
Berlin Administrative Court: Breach of neutrality by a police officer (“Officer Denny”), commentary on the judgment of the Berlin Administrative Court of 18 March 2024 – 36 K 389/22, MMR 2024, pp. 709–710
Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG): Obligation of laboratory managers to report to the authorities upon detection of salmonella in foodstuffs, commentary on the judgment of the Federal Administrative Court of 14 December 2023 – 3 C 7.22, LMuR 2024, pp. 179–180
Constitutional Court of Bückeburg: The Minister-President’s authority to make statements in response to attacks on press freedom by an anti-constitutional political party, commentary on the judgment of the Lower Saxony Constitutional Court of 24 November 2020 – StGH 6/19, NVwZ 2021, pp. 147–148
NVwZ Editorial: The ‘Chancellor’s’ right to speak out and the Federal Constitutional Court, NVwZ 2022, Issue 15

V. Blog posts

Anonymous right to information: Information, yes, but for whom, please? – Commentary on the judgment of the European Court of Justice of 15 January 2026 – C-129/24, beck-aktuell, 15 January 2026
The Bundestag should regulate ministers’ public relations work, F.A.Z. Opinion piece of 16 September 2024
The end for influencers in uniform?: On the Berlin Administrative Court’s judgement against ‘Officer Denny’, VerfBlog, 28 June 2024
How government ministers may comment on the AfD, F.A.Z. Einspruch, 5 March 2024
The ‘Länderbremse’: Why the democratic parties should now find a common line on dealing with the debt brake, VerfBlog, 27 November 2023
Emergency loans anytime, anywhere? How the Basic Law restricts the states’ borrowing, VerfBlog, 25 April 2023
From public to private: Putting Nancy Faeser’s Twitter account into context, VerfBlog, 8 February 2023
The Digital Services Act and fundamental rights – time for a ‘Lüth’ ruling from the ECJ?, LTO, 16 July 2022
Bazooka becomes a booster: On the constitutionality of deferring COVID-19 loans in the supplementary budget, VerfBlog, 19 December 2021
Giving a Toss about the Social Media Cut and Thrust: Political parties’ election campaigns on social media, VerfBlog, 12 December 2019

VI. Miscellaneous

Statement on the draft bill to strengthen the protection of the constitution in the state of Schleswig-Holstein (LT-Drs. 20/3754)
Statement on behalf of the Freie Apothekerschaft e.V. on the draft bill for a Pharmacy Supply Development Act and on the draft bill for a Second Ordinance amending the Pharmacy Operating Regulations and the Medicines Pricing Ordinance of 10 November 2025 (together with Dr Fiete Kalscheuer)
Guest article ‘What IFG applications can achieve for pharmacies’, in: Deutsche Apotheker Zeitung (DAZ), 2025, Issue No. 34, pages 88–90.
Statement commissioned by the Freie Apothekerschaft e.V. on the admissibility under European and constitutional law of a ban on the mail-order sale of prescription medicines, dated 25 February 2025 (together with Fiete Kalscheuer)
Statement commissioned by the Freie Apothekerschaft e.V. on the compatibility of the draft bill for the Pharmacy Reform Act with pharmacy law and constitutional law, dated 26 June 2024 (in collaboration with Fiete Kalscheuer)
Position paper for the Hanns Martin Schleyer Foundation’s 2022 International Congress on Young Science and Business: ‘Social networks between fundamental rights and constitutional constraints: time for a new European regulatory policy?’

Back