The traffic light coalition is considering giving the Federal Constitutional Court greater protection against attempts to disempower it. Representatives of the SPD and FDP factions are in favor of a corresponding change to the Basic Law. “According to the Basic Law, the Federal Constitutional Court Act can be changed with a simple majority,” said the parliamentary manager of the SPD parliamentary group, Johannes Fechner World on Sunday. “We should make this a two-thirds majority.”
The parliamentary managing director of the FDP parliamentary group, Stephan Thomae, also spoke out in favor of anchoring “essential structures of the Federal Constitutional Court” in the Basic Law. For him, this includes dividing the court into two senates, giving judges twelve-year terms of office and stipulating that the court can decide on its own distribution of business and how it works.
A change to this regulation would then only be possible with a two-thirds majority, said Thomae. So far it can be changed with a simple majority. “We have to make parliamentarism and the constitutional judiciary more resilient against enemies of democracy,” said Thomae, explaining his proposal AfD to be mentioned by name, which is at 22 percent in surveys at the federal level and could become the strongest force in eastern Germany in the state elections in the fall.
The background to the considerations are concerns about the strengthening of radical parties in the federal government. It is feared that if the AfD ever achieved an absolute majority, it could relatively easily eliminate the Federal Constitutional Court as the central supervisory authority. “In Poland we have seen how quickly a constitutional court can be paralyzed when simple majorities can change the way the court works,” said Fechner. Even seemingly unproblematic changes enabled a blockage, he said: for example, the requirement to process all applications according to the date of receipt. Or the requirement to provide detailed reasons for all decisions. “This can lead to the Constitutional Court no longer being able to repeal unconstitutional laws.”
With a two-thirds majority, the court would be more protected. However, in line with its strength in polls at state level, the AfD could in future block all decisions that require a two-thirds majority. Because every party above 33 percent can prevent such decisions through its so-called blocking minority.
The traffic light coalition is considering giving the Federal Constitutional Court greater protection against attempts to disempower it. Representatives of the SPD and FDP factions are in favor of a corresponding change to the Basic Law. “According to the Basic Law, the Federal Constitutional Court Act can be changed with a simple majority,” said the parliamentary manager of the SPD parliamentary group, Johannes Fechner World on Sunday. “We should make this a two-thirds majority.”
The parliamentary managing director of the FDP parliamentary group, Stephan Thomae, also spoke out in favor of anchoring “essential structures of the Federal Constitutional Court” in the Basic Law. For him, this includes dividing the court into two senates, giving judges twelve-year terms of office and stipulating that the court can decide on its own distribution of business and how it works.