The German Bar Association (DRB) is calling for greater independence for public prosecutors and a restriction on the authority of ministries to issue formal directives to them, especially considering the rising support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Sven Rebehn, the national director of the DRB, stated to the Funke Media Group that with the ascent of right-wing populist parties like the AfD, which frequently test the limits of the judiciary, there must be no loopholes allowing political abuse of the criminal justice system. Currently, justice ministries possess the power to direct prosecutors, even regarding individual criminal cases.
While there is a traditional practice of self-restraint in issuing such instructions, Rebehn stressed that an AfD Justice Minister could easily disregard these norms. He urged the Federal Minister of Justice to prevent this threat to objective prosecution immediately, arguing that a legal amendment is necessary to reliably preclude politically motivated instructions to prosecutors. He concluded that it is high time to make the rule of law more resilient and abolish the ministry’s intervention power in criminal proceedings.
Benjamin Limbach, the Justice Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia (Greens), echoed this sentiment to Funke newspapers, emphasizing the need to structurally secure and strengthen the substantive independence of public prosecutors. He insisted that criminal prosecution in Germany must be carried out freely and without regard for a person’s status, protected from any hint of political consideration. Limbach stated that the ministerial directive power should be legally restricted solely to legal oversight. The regional government had already submitted a corresponding resolution at the Justice Ministers’ Conference in 2024.
Furthermore, the AfD parliamentary group in the Bundestag also seeks to limit the directive power of ministries over the judiciary. Stephan Brandner, the AfD’s deputy federal spokesperson, told Funke newspapers that the AfD’s goal is clear: the depoliticization of the judiciary. A key element of this goal is eliminating the right of ministers to issue directives to public prosecutors. He argued that a functional rule of law cannot tolerate ideological criminal law, as it undermines its credibility and public acceptance.
According to the Code of Judicial Organization, responsible justice ministers are permitted in specific instances to issue directives to prosecutors. However, this rarely occurs in daily judicial practice. In addition, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg has, in the past, criticized this legal precedent and urged greater independence for German public prosecutors.
