DThe Federal Government and the Union want to resume discussions about better protection of the Federal Constitutional Court from the influence of extremist parties. As the FAZ learned in Berlin, an initial meeting is scheduled for next week. The Federal Ministry of Justice has submitted a draft law to amend the Basic Law, from which the “Rheinische Post” quoted. This requires a two-thirds majority in the Bundestag. According to information from the FAZ, the federal government and the Union have not yet reached an agreement on this.
The new regulation should “help prevent efforts that want to question the independence of the constitutional judiciary,” the “Rheinische Post” quotes from a twelve-page draft from the Federal Ministry of Justice. Accordingly, it is planned to incorporate the requirements of the Federal Constitutional Court Act into Articles 93 and 94 of the Basic Law.
The independence of the court, the number of two senates, the election of eight judges each by the Bundestag and the Bundesrat as well as their term of office of twelve years and the age limit of 68 years should be enshrined in the constitution. The following passage should be added: “The decisions of the Federal Constitutional Court bind the constitutional bodies of the federal and state governments as well as all courts and authorities.”
As the draft cited goes on to say, these regulations “are therefore exempt from change by a simple majority in the future”.
Since January, there has been discussion about how the judiciary, particularly the Federal Constitutional Court, can be protected from possible influence by the AfD. So far, the law on the court, which regulates the jurisdiction and procedures of the court, can be changed with a simple majority in the Bundestag. A two-thirds majority is required to change the Basic Law.