2024-09-19 01:15:56
The states should act as a “second strong line of defense” in the fight against the enemies of democracy, demands Lower Saxony’s Minister of Justice. The plans thus go further than those of the federal government.
Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia want to protect the independence of the Federal Constitutional Court beyond the federal government’s plans. A Federal Council initiative should bring the states on board “as a further bulwark against authoritarian forces,” said Lower Saxony’s Justice Minister Kathrin Wahlmann (SPD), who currently chairs the Justice Ministers’ Conference. “In this way, we are creating a second strong line of defense in the fight against the enemies of our democracy.”
The initiative stipulates that future changes to the Federal Constitutional Court Act will be dependent on the approval of the Bundesrat and that this will be enshrined in the Basic Law. The aim is to “build an effective protective wall around the Federal Constitutional Court as the guarantor of our constitutional state,” said Wahlmann.
The State Chancellery in Hanover described the project as a supplement to the federal government’s reform plans. The example of Poland has shown how quickly a constitutional court can be rendered ineffective if a populist majority in parliament gains access to procedural law. Something like this must be prevented in Germany.
The rise of the AfD sparked a debate about whether and how the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe could be better protected from political influence. The SPD, Greens, FDP and the Union in the Bundestag therefore want to anchor key provisions for the structure of the court in the Basic Law before the federal election. Specifically, they want to stipulate, among other things, the twelve-year term of office of judges, the exclusion of re-election and the age limit of 68 for judges.
So far, changes that carry the risk of blocking or politically instrumentalizing the Karlsruhe Court are theoretically possible with a simple majority. In contrast, a two-thirds majority in the Bundestag and the Bundesrat is always required to change or add to the wording of the Basic Law.