The Union parliamentary group in the German Bundestag rejected incorporating the law on sexual offenses into legal education curricula. Susanne Hierl, a legal politician from the CSU, told the “Welt” newspaper that while “the law on sexual offenses is undoubtedly a sensitive and practically significant area of law” the curriculum should not be overladen with continuously introduced mandatory requirements. She argued that a high-quality legal education relies on its methodological foundation, urging faculties to retain the “freedom” to set their own priorities rather than having their education restricted by rigid state mandates.
Conversely, Carmen Wegge, a legal politician from the SPD, believes that addressing this topic in law studies is the correct way to improve victim protection and reach fairer jurisprudence. She contends that anyone who works later in law enforcement agencies, courts, or as a criminal defender must be knowledgeable about this subject. Wegge suggests that the so-called “Istanbul Convention”-the Council of Europe convention on eliminating violence against women and domestic violence-should be a compulsory topic “by the second examination at the latest”. Furthermore, she emphasized the need for the lecture halls to provide a “safe learning environment” for affected individuals.
Wegge voiced her hope that the next Ministry of Justice conference would focus specifically on this issue and find a resolution. She stated that the federal government would offer support for this, although she acknowledged that the authority for designing the curriculum ultimately rests with the individual federal states.
