German government, mainstream opposition move to protect highest court against extremist forces

BERLIN — Germany’s ruling coalition and conservative opposition on Tuesday presented a plan to protect the country’s highest court against possible future manipulation or obstruction by extremist or authoritarian politicians.

The Minister of Justice, Marco Buschmann, cited experiences in Poland, Hungary and Israel as an example of the need to strengthen the Federal Constitutional Court. Germany’s own political landscape has become increasingly fragmented in recent years, with the far right Alternative for Germany party emerging as a significant political force.

The plan presented by the tripartite coalition of Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the main conservative bloc of the Union, the largest opposition force, calls for the court’s basic rules to be anchored in the Constitution, which they largely were not when the election ended. Second World War. The German Constitution was drafted 75 years ago.

That means a two-thirds parliamentary majority would be needed to change them in the future, rather than a simple majority. It is rare for a governing coalition to have so many seats in parliament and it is unheard of for a single party to be so strong.

Supporters of the change pointed to neighboring Poland in particular as a cautionary tale. That country’s conservative nationalist Law and Justice party took steps to establish control over the constitutional Court after he returned to power in 2015.

The reform of courts and judicial bodies by the Polish government sparked a year-long process Deadpoint with the European Union. that’s over only in the last few months after Law and Justice lost power.

Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court, based far from Berlin in the southwestern city of Karlsruhe, is often called upon to act as the ultimate arbiter on policy matters.

The court repeatedly weighed in on complaints against bailout plans during the eurozone debt crisis. In recent years, rulings have led the government to advance the date to reduce Emissions of greenhouse gases and forced him into a hasty and politically fraught rewrite of this year’s budget. Cases currently pending include an opposition challenge to a electoral reform aimed at thinning out the increasingly bloated parliament.

The court has two panels of eight judges each, who have a term of 12 years and cannot be re-elected. Those requirements must be anchored in the Constitution, as should the upper age limit of 68 for judges and other regulations.

Half of the judges are elected by the lower house of parliament, or Bundestag, and the other half by the upper house, which represents Germany’s 16 state governments. Candidates are proposed by political parties and need a two-thirds majority to be elected, which is intended to ensure balance and effectively rule out highly polarizing figures.

Buschmann said the proposed reform also includes an alternative solution in the case of “obstructive minorities” blocking the election of judges. This would allow the Bundestag to elect judges if the upper house does not do so for three months, or vice versa.

Supporters of the change aim to get parliament to approve the legislation in the current legislature, which ends next year. This will require a two-thirds majority, which can only be achieved if the coalition and the majority opposition join forces.

Even with the change, the Justice Minister said there is no “perfect constitutional order” that excludes all imaginable risks.

“In addition to what we are doing here, something else remains at least as important, perhaps much more important: that serious democrats make sure to convince as many people that, if possible, there will never be an undemocratic majority or an undemocratic minority qualified. minority in the German Bundestag,” said Buschmann.