Justice Ministers and the Federal Minister of Justice Condemn Attacks on the Judiciary
In a joint statement, the Justice Ministers of the German states and the Federal Minister of Justice have unequivocally condemned all attacks on the judiciary and the independence of judges. The statement was issued on Friday at the annual conference of the Justice Ministers of the German states (JuMiKo) in Bad Schandau.
Federal Minister of Justice Stefanie Hubig, from the Social Democratic Party, emphasized the gravity of the situation, saying, “When judges are attacked or threatened, the heart of our rule of law is under attack. Following the decisions of the Berlin Administrative Court regarding the rejection of border controls, we are experiencing massive attacks on the judiciary. For the affected judges, such attacks are deeply distressing.”
Hubig also highlighted the alarming nature of these attacks, stating, “As a representative of the independent judiciary, I find these attacks deeply disturbing. For, these attacks are not only directed at individual persons, but at the law itself and at the very idea of an independent judiciary.”
The chair of the 96th Justice Ministers’ Conference, Constanze Geiert, the Saxon State Minister of Justice, along with Anna Gallina, the Senator and President of the Hamburg Authority for Justice and Consumer Protection and Georg Eisenreich, the Bavarian State Minister of Justice, also expressed their stance, saying, “The judicial independence is a fundamental pillar of our rule of law. Personal attacks on judges, as we have recently experienced, are unacceptable in a rule of law state. The Justice Ministers stand united in support of the independent judiciary and will work to protect and strengthen it.