Bundesverfassungsgericht
Only the Constitutional Court has the power to ban a political party. This has only happened twice, both times in the 1950s: the Sozialistische Reichspartei (SRP), was a neo-nazi party. It was banned in 1952. The Communist Party of Germany (KPD) was banned in 1956. In 2003 the third case to ban a party failed. The court found out that many of the officials of the extreme right-wing National Democratic Party (NPD) were actually controlled by the German secret services. The court decided not to carry on hearing the case.