The Chief Public Prosecutor of Berlin, Margarete Koppers, has issued a warning regarding the potential misuse of political power by possible extremist governments. Speaking in the publication “Spiegel”, she voiced serious concern about the authority of German state justice ministers to issue directives to prosecutorial bodies.
Koppers described the external directive power-which grants responsible justice ministers the ability to instruct prosecutors in their respective states, even in specific individual cases-as a highly sensitive instrument that significantly impacts the state’s adherence to the rule of law. She cautioned that the judicial system is at risk if its procedural rules are manipulated politically. Furthermore, she noted that this is not an abstract possibility, citing examples of European nations that experienced phases of authoritarian-populist leadership, subsequently leading to the erosion of their democratic structures.
Against this backdrop, Koppers stressed that the current system of directive authority in Germany must be critically reviewed. She pointed out that since there are currently no legally defined boundaries for its use, the directive power serves as a potential entry point for political influence. To prevent the instrumentalization of law enforcement agencies, Koppers insists that this power should either be completely abolished or, at minimum, governed by clear statutory regulations. Additionally, she called for a mechanism allowing prosecutors to seek judicial review if they are forced to comply with illegal directives.
This stance follows an appeal published last week by Koppers, alongside the Federal Prosecutor General and all other German prosecutors, which called for measures to safeguard judicial independence and demanded legal limitations on the external directive power.
