Government must comment again on appointment of judges
The dispute over the appointment of the head of the North Rhine-Westphalian Higher Administrative Court will once again occupy the state parliament on Friday (10.00 a.m.). At the request of the SPD and FDP opposition, the case will be debated in a topical hour. The background to this is that the head of the state chancellery, Nathanael Liminski (CDU), stated during questioning in the state parliament on Wednesday evening that he had spoken to two of the three candidates for the office of court president himself.
The opposition sees this as fuelling suspicions of cheating and political influence peddling. Liminski denied this. He had not intervened in the procedure and had not become active after the talks. He had also not cast a vote on the appointment.
NRW Justice Minister Benjamin Limbach (Greens) is accused of having helped an acquaintance and former judge colleague to one of the highest judicial offices in the state. The cabinet decided on the appointment on August 8. Two administrative courts had subsequently halted the appointment because the unsuccessful applicants had filed a lawsuit. The Higher Administrative Court itself must now decide on the matter. Limbach has already had to answer questions about the appointment in three special meetings of the Justice Committee. He had always rejected accusations of influence peddling.
The failure of new regulations in road traffic law in the Bundesrat will also have an aftermath in the NRW state parliament on Friday. A further topical hour at the request of the SPD will deal with the voting behavior of North Rhine-Westphalia. The state abstained in the Bundesrat a week ago. This is because the CDU and Greens have stipulated in the coalition agreement that the state will abstain from voting in the Bundesrat if the coalition partners have not previously reached an agreement on voting behavior.
The new road traffic law is intended to give cities and municipalities more leeway for the establishment of bus lanes and 30 km/h zones, for example. The law passed by the Bundestag, which requires approval, failed to achieve the required majority in the state chamber. The Greens in NRW expressed unusually clear criticism of the CDU, which had ensured that North Rhine-Westphalia abstained in the Bundesrat by rejecting the amendment.
The government's silence on the allegations of political influence in the appointment of the North Rhine-Westphalian Higher Administrative Court president is raising questions. The opposition in Parliament believes that the government should provide clear statements to uphold justice and transparency.
Given the controversy surrounding the appointment process, it is crucial for the government to demonstrate its commitment to fairness and impartiality in the selection of judges, as this is a fundamental aspect of our democratic system, further emphasized in Parliament debates.
Source: www.dpa.com
