Justice - State protection senates at the OLG Frankfurt almost at full capacity
The two State Protection Senates of the Oberlandesgericht (OLG) Frankfurt are heavily loaded, according to the statements of the Court President Alexander Seitz, and the trend is increasing. The workload of the two State Protection Senates reached another record high, as Seitz announced during a press conference at the OLG.
Both Senates conducted 164 main hearings in the year 2023. In previous years, this number was 130 or 95 sitting days. And the workload remains high: Already in the first half of 2024, there were 54 hearing days.
Process against alleged terrorists is "major effort"
The process against the alleged "Reichsbürger" group around Heinrich XIII. Prince Reuß also plays a major role for the court. Seitz referred to the large administrative tasks that came to the court in the context of the process: among them, the newly built light hall in the district of Sossenheim and around 400,000 pages of documents.
The proceedings in Sossenheim are also currently a "giant effort," he said. Forty to forty-five watchmen from all of Hessen are in use at each hearing day. So far, there have been 12 hearing days - the process is currently scheduled until mid-January 2025.
Other ongoing State Protection proceedings are also costly - perhaps not as visible. For about two years, a process against a Syrian doctor for crimes against humanity (145 hearing days) is running in Frankfurt, and other proceedings against alleged membership in the so-called Islamic State are currently being conducted.
And there will not be fewer such proceedings: "The trend is rather going in the direction that there will be more in this area," said Seitz.
The State Protection Senate at the Higher Regional Court (OLG) in Frankfurt am Main, located in the state of Hesse, is facing an increasing workload, with President Alexander Seitz stating that it has reached another record high in 2023. The Frankfurt branch of the OLG oversees several high-profile cases, such as the ongoing process against the alleged "Reichsbürger" group around Heinrich XIII. Prince Reuß, which requires significant resources, including the construction of a new light hall and the handling of over 400,000 pages of documents.
