Justice - Court: Error in appointment of Prosecutor-General
The currently open position at the Prosecutor's Office in Erfurt remains vacant for now. The reason is a decision of the Administrative Court in Gera, which found that the selection procedure of the Thuringian Justice Ministry was "not legally sound," according to the President of the Administrative Court in Gera, Michael Obhues, in response to an inquiry. The Ministry had not sufficiently taken into account the results of previous evaluations, including those of the Thuringian General Prosecutor's Office. Previously, Thuringian Newspapers of the Funke Media Group had reported on this.
The Ministry had intended to fill the position of the Leading Public Prosecutor at the Erfurt Investigative Authority with its current press spokesperson Hannes Grüneisen. However, in the evaluation by General Prosecutor Marlies Lindner, the currently active prosecutor at the General Prosecutor's Office, Jörg Stolz, was assessed as "slightly better" in terms of qualifications, said Obhues. The losing candidate appealed the ministry's decision for Grüneisen to the Administrative Court in Gera in the fall.
According to Obhues' explanation, the Ministry could not conduct selection interviews due to the lack of a "comparable assessment level" among the applicants. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice confirmed on inquiry that the Ministry would carefully review the court's decision.
The Prosecutor's Office Erfurt is responsible for the district courts of Apolda, Arnstadt, Erfurt, Gotha, Sömmerda and Weimar. It is also a statewide specialized unit for combating corruption offenses.
The decision from the Administrative Court in Gera, critiquing the Thuringian Justice Ministry's selection process as "not legally sound," affects the handling of the vacant position at the Erfurt Prosecutor's Office, involving their chosen candidate, Hannes Grüneisen. Due to this court ruling, the Ministry of Justice is now obligated to reassess their selection process, as confirmed by their spokesperson. The Erfurt Prosecutor's Office, managing district courts across Thuringia, has been impacted by these administrative proceedings within the Justice system.
