Lawyers have called on Germany’s mainstream political parties to adopt a planned reform to ensure the independence and functioning of the Federal Constitutional Court despite the collapse of the government coalition.
Eight legal associations, including the German Association of Judges, the German Bar Association and the Federal Chamber of Lawyers published a joint statement on Friday.
In it they argue that the project is “of such outstanding importance for the constitutional state that all democratic parties must work to pass the reform before the planned new elections”.
They warn that it would be “irresponsible if the court in Karlsruhe were to fail to provide better protection against targeted interventions or blockades in the party-political dispute over the economic and financial policy of the coalition government.”
The Federal Constitutional Court monitors compliance with Germany’s Basic Law. It determines the responsibilities and limits of state action. It is particularly important for the enforcement of fundamental citizens’ rights.
The centre-left SPD, the Greens, the liberal FDP and the conservative CDU/CSU all want to enshrine in the constitution a number of reforms, including a twelve-year term of office for judges and the exclusion of re-election, and an age limit of 68 for judges.
At the first discussion in the Bundestag in October, only the far-right AfD spoke out against the plans jointly to make the Federal Constitutional Court more resilient.
An expert hearing on the planned reform is scheduled for next Wednesday in the Bundestag’s Legal Affairs Committee. After that, the Bundestag lower house of parliament could theoretically hold a final discussion and vote on it.
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