crime
Lower Saxony’s Minister of Justice for debate on criminal law
According to Lower Saxony’s Justice Minister Kathrin Wahlmann (SPD), some crimes should be punished more harshly. photo
© Julian Stratenschulte/dpa
Lower Saxony has taken over the chairmanship of the Conference of Justice Ministers. Criminal law could be one point in the discussions. Lower Saxony’s Justice Minister sees a need for improvement there.
The Chairwoman of the Conference of Justice Ministers (Jumiko), Lower Saxony’s department head, Kathrin Wahlmann, wants to advocate for higher penalties for some crimes. In the evening in Hanover, the SPD politician cited physical injuries and offenses against sexual self-determination as examples.
Wahlmann says he wants to initiate a debate about changes to criminal law as part of the Justice Ministers’ Conference. She said she had not yet had any discussions with her country colleagues about this. The spring conference of justice ministers will take place at the beginning of June in Hanover, the autumn conference in November at the representation of the state of Lower Saxony to the federal government in Berlin.
The minister emphasized that criminal law as a whole must be taken into account. Wahlmann called for a commission at the federal level to carry out this task. Criminal law sometimes contains imbalances, she said. Homicide and armed drug trafficking have the same punishment in Germany. Penalties for drug offenses are sometimes too high, said the minister. She did not initially say how much the penalties should be increased or reduced.
Since the legislative authority for the justice sector usually lies with the federal government, the states use the conference to set common goals and represent the interests of the states to the Federal Minister of Justice.