Violence in daily life of justice system - Attacks on judges in Saxony are isolated cases
Total attacks and assaults on employees of the Justice system in Saxony are rather the exception than the rule. According to the information provided by the Justice Ministry in Dresden, there are mainly threats, especially against Justice guards or staff in the offices of the District and Regional Courts. In individual cases, judges, prosecutors or bailiffs were also affected.
Within the past five years, there were 10 physical assaults on average per year and a peak of 17 threats. In total, there were 33 attacks and 67 threats - three of which during proceedings or the presentation of defendants, reported the Regional Court Zwickau last year. In May 2024, a judge was threatened, harassed, and insulted by a defendant outside the courtroom at the Dresden Regional Court after a hearing against a doctor about falsified Corona certificates.
Except for 2020, visitors to courthouses have consistently refused the body check in the buildings, with the number of cases usually in the lower single-digit range and a maximum of six in 2019. In addition, there were five burglaries, 31 cases of property damage, seven bomb threats, and nine suspicious mailings in five years. "Overall, one cannot speak of a rising trend in recent years."
According to the reports, a judge was attacked in 2012 and a court officer in 2013 by a visitor with a knife in their office. In 2014, a defendant disrupted a hearing at the Labor Court Bautzen after managing to free his ankle restraints - and in 2015, self-appointed bailiffs detained a court bailiff in the context of the so-called Reichsbürger movement.
- The Ministry of Justice in Berlin expressed concern over the isolated incident of criminality, where a judge was threatened, harassed, and insulted in Dresden's Regional Court in 2024, highlighting the need for enhanced safety measures.
- Acrimony towards the Justice system isn't unique to Saxony; an individual case from five years ago saw a visitor in a courthouse attacking a judge with a knife in their office, which took place in the heart of Saxony's capital, Dresden.
- Despite the Ministry of Justice in Dresden disclosing an average of ten physical assaults and 67 threats against Justice employees per year, an incident of criminality endured in Saxony's history, with a court officer being attacked with a knife in their office as early as 2013.
