Stephan Harbarth
Strengthening the Constitutional Court “anything but trivial”
Does the Federal Constitutional Court need to be better protected from influence by extremists? President Stephan Harbarth takes no position on the content. photo
© Uli Deck/dpa
There has been a lot of discussion in recent weeks about the preventive protection of the Federal Constitutional Court against the influence of extreme forces. Now the president of the highest court speaks out.
In President’s opinion, the Federal Constitutional Court should be better protected against influence by extremists Not an easy undertaking for Stephan Harbarth. The questions on the topic are “anything but trivial,” said Harbarth on Tuesday evening in Karlsruhe. Many models that are currently being discussed “turn out to be much more complex on closer inspection than some public contributions to the debate suggest.”
Out of concern that extreme parties are gaining strength, the traffic light coalition wants to enshrine details on the election and term of office of constitutional judges not just in a simple law, but in the Basic Law. However, a two-thirds majority is required in the Bundestag, which means that the coalition is dependent on the support of the Union faction. There will be discussions about this later this week. The Federal Constitutional Court Act can be changed with a simple majority.
To date, half of the eight judges in each of the two Senates have been elected by the Bundestag and the Bundesrat with a two-thirds majority. Among other things, there are fears that the AfD could gain influence given poll numbers of 20 to 30 percent. It is also being discussed whether a third senate could be set up with new judges, which would then decide on important disputes – particularly those involving party politics.
No comment on the suggestions
From Harbarth’s point of view, the fact that the discussion is conducted calmly, with care and in balance would be a strong signal, as he said, especially in the weeks of the major constitutional anniversaries in 2024. The Basic Law – the German constitution – was passed on May 23, 1949 – 75 years ago.
The President of Germany’s highest court took no position on the content. “First of all, the ball is in Berlin,” said Harbarth. It is up to the legislature to decide whether and how the Federal Constitutional Court Act or the Basic Law should be changed. According to long-standing state practice, the legislature gives the court the opportunity to comment before making a change that affects the court. “We will not comment on individual models beforehand”
4828 new procedures last year
Last year, the Federal Constitutional Court said it reduced its caseload by around 18 percent. 5,352 procedures were completed and 4,828 were added. This remains a high level, according to the 2023 annual report.
89 percent of the new complaints were constitutional complaints. These are rarely successful: the success rate over the past ten years was 1.66 percent. On average, around eight out of ten procedures of all kinds have taken up to a year since 2014. Three percent of the proceedings lasted more than three years.
From electoral law to pig farming
Since its founding in 1951, the court had recorded 264,137 entries by the end of last year. Of these, 261,698 were completed. The major decisions in 2023 included judgments on the budget, party financing, the repeat election in Berlin and the resumption of criminal proceedings to the detriment of those who were acquitted. According to Harbarth, the current year will include, among other things, the federal election law, the work of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), fees for police operations in high-risk games in professional football, pig farming, the Tübingen packaging tax and student loans.