Federal President
Steinmeier: Protect the Constitutional Court from attacks
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier during the discussion forum in Bellevue Palace. photo
© Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
The coalition wants to make the Federal Constitutional Court weatherproof in the event that extremists gain the political upper hand. But the Union is hesitating. Now the Federal President is jumping in on the traffic lights.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called for the Federal Constitutional Court to be protected from possible attacks on its independence.
In countries like Poland and Hungary, the independence of the highest courts has always been at the center of attacks on liberal democracy, said Steinmeier in Berlin. “That’s why I think it’s right to include regulations for the structure of the court, the electoral process and the terms of office of judges in the Basic Law. Regulations that could then only be changed with a two-thirds majority.”
Steinmeier calls for “a serious debate”
He does not underestimate the scope and complexity of such a regulation, said Steinmeier in a debate forum on democracy in his official residence at Bellevue Palace. “Nevertheless, in my opinion now is the time to think about the content and scope of such an amendment to the constitution. It would be good if a serious debate got underway about it.”
The traffic light parties wanted to bring about a change in the Basic Law with the Union in order to enshrine the points raised by Steinmeier. This is intended to prevent judges from being removed from office relatively easily if extreme parties gain strength.
However, the Union ended the first talks with the declaration that it currently saw no compelling need for such a constitutional change. Meanwhile, CDU chairman Friedrich Merz made it clear that the Union would of course be open to a discussion if there were proposals to better protect the Federal Constitutional Court from enemies of democracy. At the moment, the Union does not see such proposals.