German Administrative Courts and the Federal Administrative Court’s Presidents have expressed opposition to the planned shift of competencies to the Social Courts, as outlined in the coalition agreement. The affected areas of law include child and youth welfare, housing allowance, the Federal Education and Training Assistance Act (BAföG) and alimony advance payments, the Bavarian Administrative Court announced on Friday.
The judges justify their criticism by citing their decades-long expertise in these fields. They argue that a shift would dismantle well-established structures and could lead to longer proceedings. Currently, the average proceedings’ duration in social courts is significantly higher, at 17.9 months, compared to the administrative courts’ 14.8 months.
The jurists emphasize that the affected benefits are tax-financed and fundamentally differ from the contribution-financed social insurance matters typically handled by social courts.