Germany’s prosecutors are extremely stretched. How changes in the social climate affect the work of investigators is shown by various waves of protests and current figures. An overview.
In the fall, the German Association of Judges (DRB) sounded the alarm again. Land under the public prosecutor’s office, the number of open investigations is reaching dramatic levels. Whether in North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, Thuringia, large Baden-Württemberg or small Saarland – everywhere the backlog of files has grown by around a third within two years; Hamburg even reported 57 percent. Nationwide, the number of new cases in 2022 reached a record 5.2 million. The prosecution authorities are sending desperate reports of overload to their ministries, and the judges’ association is calling for additional staff. In Baden-Württemberg alone, 160 public prosecutors were missing.