Prosecutor's offices open to the public. - Minister of Justice seeks tighter control over issuing directives
The federal minister's proposed guidelines for future communication from the federal and state governments state that any instructions should be written, well-justified, and limited in scope. Instruction from superiors can only be allowed to prevent illegal decisions.
The North Rhine-Westphalia minister feels more restrictions are needed, saying "the federal justice minister's draft is lackluster and fails to achieve its goal of safeguarding the autonomy of the public prosecutor's office from political interference," as quoted by the RP from Limbach.
The head of the German Judges' Association, Sven Rebehn, shared his concerns with the newspaper. He explained that this ability for political authorities to issue instructions specific to criminal proceedings has been around since the early 20th century. Rebehn highlighted the dangers before the upcoming Justice Minister Conference on Wednesday in Hanover, "With the wrong political hands, a right for ministries to interfere with prosecutions could prove devastating."
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- Despite the concerns raised by the head of the German Judges' Association, Benjamin Limbach, the government in North Rhine-Westphalia has advocated for tighter control over the issuance of directives, critiquing the federal justice minister's draft as insufficient in safeguarding the autonomy of the public prosecutor's office.
- The Rheinische Post reported on this ongoing debate, featuring quotes from Limbach, who stated that the draft from the federal minister did not adequately address the need to protect the independence of the public prosecutor's office from political interference.
- Marco Buschmann, a prominent politician in Germany, has also expressed his views on this issue, advocating for strict limitations on any instructions issued by superiors in legal matters, asserts that these guidelines should only be allowed in instances to prevent illegal decisions.
- The issue of government intervention in the public prosecutor's office will be a key topic at the upcoming Justice Minister Conference in Düsseldorf, where experts and politicians will discuss the potential consequences of granting ministries the ability to interfere in criminal proceedings.
