Application for a ban on conducting official business
The supervisors in the court who are then specifically responsible for Maier should examine the application for retirement. But Maier shouldn’t actually take up the post of judge in the first place, Minister of Justice Meier left no doubt about that. Because it could take longer for the application for retirement to be examined by the responsible court, the ministry explained that it had submitted a second application to the magistrate’s service court in Leipzig.
This is about the provisional ban on conducting official business. This is justified with the “defense of a serious impairment of the administration of justice from March 14, 2022”. The ministry hopes that this application will be dealt with urgently and that Jens Maier will therefore not be able to take up his new position in Dippoldiswalde.
All judges and civil servants in the service of the Free State of Saxony must commit themselves to the free democratic basic order within the meaning of the Basic Law and must ensure that it is observed at all times.
Minister of Justice Meier emphasized that all citizens must be able to rely on the fact that the Saxon judiciary guarantees compliance with the fundamental principles of the rule of law. And Meier added: “Anyone who is classified as a right-wing extremist by state authorities cannot be a credible representative of the judiciary and seriously damages the reputation of the administration of justice.”
Background to Jens Maier’s personnel
– Maier’s office as a judge at the Dresden district court has been suspended since 2017 because he sat in the Bundestag for the AfD.
– After losing this mandate in the federal elections at the end of 2021, Maier applied to return to the judiciary.
– By March 15, he must be assigned a job.
– The 60-year-old Maier had drawn attention to himself several times in the past with right-wing extremist statements. He flirts with his right-wing positions and political border crossings.
– Maier is listed as a right-wing extremist by the Saxon Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
Criticism of previous actions
So far, the Minister of Justice had held back with assessments of the case. In the past week, she had announced that she had no grip on the Maier case. She had been clearly criticized for this from many sides. In addition to the Central Council of Jews, the Judges’ Association and the German Lawyers’ Association, Thuringia’s Interior Minister Georg Maier also found clear words about the actions of the Saxon political colleague. “The responsible authorities often lack the courage to intervene.”
Minister Katja Meier has now defended her behavior. Above all, she wanted to prevent legal avenues being blocked with early statements.