Saxony intends to abolish the criminal offense of insulting politicians. Landesjustizministerin (State Justice Minister) Constanze Geiert submitted a formal proposal for this change to be discussed at the upcoming Conference of Justice Ministers.
The CDU politician stated to the newspaper Stern that she does not believe a special criminal protection for politicians is necessary, noting that the relevant Article 188 of the Criminal Code has thus far failed to effectively prevent attacks on officials or those holding mandates.
According to the proposal, Federal Minister of Justice Stefanie Hubig (SPD) is requested to examine a fundamental reform of insult offenses. Alternatively, the law concerning political insults could be restricted to expressions deemed capable of attacking the dignity of the affected individuals.
From Minister Geiert’s perspective, the existence of this particular criminal offense causes many people to worry that a “polemical exchange” is no longer easily possible within political debate. She clarified that the goal is not to leave politicians unprotected altogether; serious insults could still be prosecuted under general criminal provisions.
Saxony is therefore urging the federal government to either eliminate or substantially restrict the political insult clause in the criminal code, while also clarifying Article 185 of the Criminal Code. Geiert stated that the entire system of insult offenses should be reformed, which would increase legal certainty, uphold personal privacy, and bolster freedom of expression.
Data from the Central Reporting Center for Criminal Content on the Internet (ZMI) indicates that 6,246 reports filed under Article 188 of the Criminal Code were received last year-a significant increase compared to previous years. The Federal Criminal Police Office recently informed the Stern that in 2024, 4,439 cases were registered, while the figures were 2,598 in 2023 and only 1,404 reported violations in 2022.
