A growing backlog of administrative court cases in Lower Saxony is raising concerns about the strain on the judicial system. The Lower Saxony Association of Administrative Judges has issued a warning regarding the increasing volume of claims filed by public servants challenging salary regulations.
According to Gert-Armin Neuhäuser, president of the association, the sheer number of cases is creating a situation where judicial resources are being utilized without the possibility of reaching a final resolution. In a letter addressed to Lower Saxony’s Minister-President Olaf Lies, Neuhäuser expressed bewilderment regarding the allocation of judicial capacity to manage and process a substantial number of cases that, due to an ongoing legal standstill, cannot be adjudicated.
The situation stems from a blanket rejection of salary increase requests issued by Lower Saxony’s Finance Minister Gerald Heere. This directive has triggered more than 25,000 public servants to initiate legal proceedings seeking higher compensation. Neuhäuser, who also serves as president of Osnabrück Administrative Court, anticipates the total number of cases to exceed 30,000.
The core of the challenge rests on a pending constitutional court ruling, which has remained unresolved for over seven years. This delay effectively prevents Lower Saxony’s administrative courts from making substantive decisions on the salary-related claims. Judges are compelled to process the cases, but without the possibility of issuing judgments while awaiting the outcome of the constitutional court’s deliberation. The situation is described by Neuhäuser as a significant accumulation of cases that require processing but remain indefinitely unresolved.
