German parties unite to shield Constitutional Court from any populist threat

German parties unite to shield Constitutional Court from any populist threat

By Thomas Escritt

Germany's government and largest opposition parties said they have agreed to amend the constitution to protect the structure of the country's highest court and limit the risk of a populist party ever gaining enough power to weaken the body.

Justice Minister Marco Buschmann said on Tuesday the need for the constitutional amendment became clear after seeing legislation in Hungary and Poland in recent years that targetted the power of the courts.

The proposals, which should pass comfortably since the parties together have over 80% of seats in parliament, enshrine in Germany's Basic Law the size of the 16-judge court, the judges' 12-year term and the mandatory retirement age of 68.

They also stipulate that any proposed change to the court would need a two thirds majority in both chambers of parliament. At present, the structure of the court can be modified by simple majority vote.

"Our rule of law must not be sabotaged from within," said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser in a statement on Tuesday, commenting on the agreement. "When authoritarians attack democracy, the judiciary is often their first target."

The agreement was struck between Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats, the Greens and the Free Democrats in the ruling coalition, and the opposition conservatives.

Conservative lawmaker Ansgar Heveling said the agreement ensured the court was "equipped for turbulent political times."

Concern over moves to limit judicial independence in Hungary led the European Union to suspend billions of euros in budget payments to Budapest, with investigations still under way that could lead to its voting rights being suspended.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban rejects criticism he is eroding the rule of law and says he is fighting for freedom.

Similar proceedings against Poland for also meddling in the rule of law were suspended after the right-populist PiS government was voted out of office in 2023.

The head of Germany's Association of Judges, Sven Rebehn said, "the examples of Poland and Hungary have shown in an alarming way, how quickly even those states that are perceived as stable and democratic can tilt, if illiberal forces put them under pressure."

Based in Stuttgart near the French border, Germany's Constitutional Court is among the world's powerful. It has struck down Eurozone rescue packages and crisis budgets in the past and was adopted as a model by many countries in Eastern Europe as they transitioned to democracy in the 1990s.

Germany's Alternative for Germany party (AfD), classified by security services as right-extremist in several of Germany's 16 states, complained that it had been shut out from discussions about the court, which it said showed "the miserable state of the government's democratic culture."

"It will take an AfD government to protect democratic institutions effectively," said AfD legislator Stephan Brandner.