Protecting democracy
Buschmann wants to better secure the Constitutional Court
Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) wants to present a draft to secure the Constitutional Court. photo
© Kay Nietfeld/dpa
Must the Federal Constitutional Court’s working basis be protected against enemies of democracy in the Basic Law? The Union is not slamming the door on talks. The Minister of Justice picks up here.
Union faction leader Merz said on Friday that he would not generally rule out a legal change to protect the Federal Constitutional Court from enemies of democracy. The Union is ready to talk here. However, he has not yet seen a useful draft from the traffic light coalition.
Buschmann said: “Experts have already made good suggestions on how we can secure essential structural principles such as the number and term of office of judges or the structure of the Senate.” He invites Merz to resume discussions on this matter. “If these should be carried out on the basis of a specific draft law, I would be happy to present this as a basis for consultation.”
Union appears ready to talk
Green party leader Britta Haßelmann told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (Saturday) that consensus from all democratic forces was required. “The cross-party talks must not end.”
Merz had stated that the German constitutional court was better protected than is the case in Poland, Hungary or the USA. But “if there are suggestions to protect it even better than we are currently doing anyway, then we are of course open to a discussion,” said the CDU leader.
The Union parliamentary group’s legal policy spokesman, Günter Krings, also underlined his group’s willingness to talk. The CDU politician said on Saturday in the WDR5 “Morgenecho” that he wanted to promote this and reach out to the other democratic factions. “And then, I think, we can find a good solution,” emphasized Krings. He doesn’t see any time pressure. “We are not facing a direct takeover of power by radical forces in Germany. If you change the Basic Law, you have to take the necessary time,” emphasized the CDU politician.
Change the constitution?
The traffic light coalition has considered enshrining details on the election and term of office of constitutional judges not just in a simple law, but in the Basic Law. These could then no longer be changed with a simple majority, but only with a two-thirds majority. This could, for example, prevent judges from being removed from office relatively easily in the event of a change of government.
The former Federal Minister of the Interior Gerhart Baum (also FDP) warned against this. It is “outrageous that we have to talk about such a measure – and we have to,” he told the Germany editorial network. “But we are not yet at the point where we even have to change our constitution.” There is a lot going on, he said, pointing to the nationwide demonstrations against right-wing extremism, the court decision on the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution’s classification of the AfD as a suspected right-wing extremist case and the upcoming elections. “In any case, this would probably damage the court rather than benefit it,” said Baum.