Politicians from several parties agree that the Federal Constitutional Court should be strengthened. A draft law is being worked on for this purpose.
The states want to better protect the independent position of the Federal Constitutional Court from enemies of the constitution by amending the Basic Law. This emerges from a joint statement by the justice departments of Lower Saxony, Bavaria and Hamburg.
The draft law is currently being developed on the basis of preliminary work by North Rhine-Westphalia and in exchange with a former judge at the Federal Constitutional Court, it said.
At the end of last year, the Conference of Justice Ministers set up a federal-state working group on a defensive constitutional state under the leadership of Hamburg. The working group’s deliberations include determining the twelve-year term of office and banning the re-election of members of the Federal Constitutional Court.
“It is time for us to work together across party lines at the federal and state levels for a strong constitutional state,” said Hamburg’s Justice Senator Anna Gallina (Greens), who coordinates the justice departments of the Greens, SPD, Left and FDP in the Justice Ministers’ Conference.
Guardians of the Constitution must be protected
Bavaria’s Justice Minister Georg Eisenreich (CSU) said on behalf of the Union-run justice departments: “Almost 75 years after the promulgation of the Basic Law, we are currently experiencing developments that pose a danger to our democracy. Enemies of the rule of law and democracy also threaten our free society from within.” The constitutional state must be defensive and, in particular, protect the guardians of the constitution resolutely and consistently.
Lower Saxony’s Justice Minister Kathrin Wahlmann (SPD), chairwoman of the Conference of Justice Ministers, said: “When anti-democrats come to power, the independent judiciary is often their first target. The Federal Constitutional Court, as the highest German court and guardian of the Basic Law, represents the constitutional state in a prominent manner.”
What should change?
The traffic light coalition is considering enshrining details of the election and term of office of constitutional judges not just in a simple law, but in the Basic Law. These could then no longer be changed with a simple majority, but only with a two-thirds majority. This could, for example, prevent judges from being relatively easily removed from office or the role of the Constitutional Court from being changed in the event of a change of government.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
