Attorney General - Koppers: Abolish justice ministers' right to issue instructions
Berlin's Attorney General Margarete Koppers has called for the abolition of the right to issue instructions by federal and state justice ministers. The European Court of Justice has been calling for this for some time, and many European countries do not have this right to intervene in specific investigations by public prosecutors. "Germany is not exemplary in this respect," Koppers told the German Press Agency. The justice ministers repeatedly stated that they would not actually exercise the right to issue instructions. "I don't find that credible. Because then they could also abolish it."
Koppers also referred to political developments and, with a view to the high popularity of the AfD in polls in some federal states, said: "If an AfD politician was the Minister of Justice, I don't want to imagine what criminal prosecution would look like - especially in the area of right-wing extremism."
The AfD is currently using the justice system to assert alleged violations of its own rights and to create the impression that its political opponents do not abide by the law. For example, they appeal to the Federal Constitutional Court relatively frequently. "If they had the power, however, the rule of law would no longer apply," Koppers is convinced.
The abolition of the right to issue instructions represents "a depoliticization of the prosecution authorities", which in her view is important for the reputation and credibility of the public prosecutor's offices, said the Attorney General. At the same time, the abolition would put them on an equal footing with judges. In the latter, the principle of independence applies and no one can dictate to judges how they decide.
The distinction is incomprehensible to many young lawyers - and is therefore also an obstacle to recruiting new talent for the public prosecutor's office. "They undergo the same training and take the oath of office on the same Basic Law," says Koppers. "They have the same duties - why shouldn't they have the same rights?"
The German Association of Judges (DRB) recently called on the federal and state justice ministers to abandon the right to issue instructions. The right to intervene shakes the "trust in objective criminal prosecution", explained the association of judges and public prosecutors.
The coalition agreement between the SPD, Greens and FDP states: "In accordance with the requirements of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), we are adapting the external ministerial right to issue instructions to public prosecutors in individual cases." The FDP, which has Marco Buschmann as Federal Minister of Justice, had campaigned for such a reform in the previous legislative period.
At the time, it proposed abolishing the Minister of Justice's so-called external right to issue instructions in individual cases. The public prosecutor's office should continue to be subject to official supervision, but this should not include the right to issue instructions to judicial administrations with regard to individual cases. In November, the Federal Ministry of Justice stated that further action would be examined.
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- Despite the Justice Ministers' claims of not exercising their right to issue instructions, Attorney General Margarete Koppers in Berlin believes they should abolish it, as many European countries have done, due to concerns about right-wing extremism and the high popularity of the AfD.
- The AfD, a right-wing political party, regularly uses the German justice system to assert alleged violations of its rights and create the impression that its opponents are lawbreakers, a trait that concerns Margarete Koppers.
- According to Koppers, the abolition of the right to issue instructions would depoliticize the public prosecutor's offices, which would be beneficial for their reputation and credibility, as judges also enjoy the principle of independence.
- The FDP, a federal political party, has advocated for the abolition of the justice minister's external right to issue instructions in individual cases, promoting a depoliticized prosecution system that is equal for both prosecutors and judges.
Source: www.stern.de
