The official association of judges in Germany, Deutscher Richterbund (DRB), has asked the federal government to strengthen laws to prevent potential abuses by state governments of prosecutorial powers to influence criminal cases. This request comes after the significant victory of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the recent elections in Saxony-Anhalt.
Concerns about the influence of extremists
The AfD is likely to take control of a government in Saxony-Anhalt for the first time. This has raised concerns within the judicial system that the party may direct criminal investigations towards specific targets through orders. According to the DRB, "The main priority now is to prevent the misuse of public prosecutorial offices in Germany for party political purposes."
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Sunden Rebein, the executive director of the DRB, stated, "Current law allows state justice ministries to intervene even in individual criminal proceedings. While there is a political tradition of refraining from issuing orders to prosecutors, this tradition can be abandoned at any time and does not provide any effective protection."
The role of ministries in judicial prosecutions
In Germany, unlike many countries, state prosecutions along with the police are part of the executive branch of government. This places them under the authority of state or federal interior ministries and subject to parliamentary oversight. This dependency is seen by many constitutional lawyers as a democratic principle, as it means that prosecutorial actions can be controlled by a democratically elected body. However, others view this as a problem, as it opens the door for political influence.
The interior ministries of Germany, both at the federal level and in the 16 states, have the power to issue orders to prosecutors in individual cases. For example, if certain evidence has been provided by an intelligence agency, the interior ministry can order the prosecutor to exclude this fact from a court case, as its disclosure could jeopardize the agency's work.
Meanwhile, the federal Ministry of Justice has shown no willingness to change the law and has stated that current laws have sufficient measures to prevent unlawful orders. This ministry emphasizes that maintaining prosecutions as part of the executive branch is important, as it means they are more accountable and under parliamentary oversight.
In this context, some defense lawyers, such as Gül Pınar, a criminal lawyer based in Hamburg, have stressed the need for reforms. She states that if orders are documented, defense lawyers can examine whether these orders are legally valid or have exceeded their authority. She also emphasizes that the solution is not to make prosecutions independent, but rather to create new mechanisms to review what is happening.
