crime
Judges’ Association warns against overburdening the judiciary
Due to the increasing number of cases, the judiciary is severely overloaded. Among other things, there is a lack of staff. The German Association of Judges is sounding the alarm.
The German Association of Judges (DRB) warns of a growing overload of the judiciary. The reason for this is, among other things, a growing number of reports of hate and hate speech online. “The criminal justice system threatens to become a bottleneck more than ever when it comes to fighting crime,” said the Federal Managing Director of the DRB, Sven Rebehn, to “Welt”.
More cases than ever before on the prosecutor’s table
In 2023 alone, the public prosecutor’s office had more than 5.5 million new cases, 350,000 more in the previous year and “more than ever before”. At the end of 2023, prosecutors reported 923,000 open cases, an increase of a quarter.
At the same time, the prosecution rate of public prosecutors has been falling “for years.” In 2023, fewer than one in 15 cases were brought before a court; in 2013 it was one in ten. Almost every third case was closed by public prosecutors “according to discretionary regulations with or without conditions”.
There is a lack of staff everywhere
Due to the increasing number of cases, the public prosecutor’s office alone is now lacking around 2,000 investigators, and criminal courts have also complained about a lack of staff. The consequences include an ever-increasing backlog of procedures and increasingly lengthy processes. It took “an average of more than 21 months” between the time the public prosecutor received a complaint and the verdict.
According to the Association of Judges, the reason for this is, among other things, the growing number of reports of hate and hate speech online, but also several references to child pornography from the USA and numerous drug cases. Another reason, according to a spokesman, is the cannabis legalization law. That is why almost 280,000 criminal files would have had to be checked in order to retroactively issue or reimpose penalties.
Rebehn demanded that “the federal and state governments should join forces to bring the public prosecutor’s offices and criminal courts back to the level of their increased tasks.” The traffic light left an initiative on the table and the future federal government would have to make up for it.
dpa
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.
