Federal judges in Germany have ruled against banning the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD). It is the second attempt to ban the NPD that has ended in failure.

Although the party's attitude to the constitution has been deemed hostile, it does not have the potential to upend democracy in Germany, the court said. At the last German general election in 2013, the NPD gained 1.3 percent of the vote - well below the five percent needed to enter parliament. In more recent state elections, the NPD also dropped votes to the insurgent populist far-right party, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), and is currently not represented in any state parliament.