Ministry of Justice of Germany

The Federal Ministry of Justice is a ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany .

Federal Ministry of Justice
Bundesministerium der Justiz
Bundesadler Bundesorgane.svg
Agency overview
Formed 1 January 1877 as the Reichsjustizamt
Jurisdiction Government of Germany
Headquarters Berlin
Employees 620
Minister responsible Marco Buschmann
Bundesministerin der Justiz
Website
bmj.bund.de

History

Germany has five "Classic Ministries", rather like the United Kingdom's "Great Offices of State".

The classic ministries are:

The Reich Justice Office was created in 1875. It was a part of the Chancellor's department until 1 January 1877 when it became independent. The first Minister of Justice was appointed in 1919, when the Office of Justice became the Reichsministerium der Justiz of the Weimar Republic

Responsibility

Political

The Federal Minister of Justice heads the Ministry. He has two senior assistants.

  • The Parliamentary State Secretary, a member of the Bundestag who acts as a "junior minister"
  • The "beamteter Staatssekretär". This is the senior civil servant of the department.

Role

Germany is a federal country. The administration of the justice and criminal prosecution is mainly a matter for the federal states.

The federal ministry's main job is ensuring that federation and the states, and all laws, keep within the "Rule of Law".

The ministry oversees the writing of new laws, and the changing or the abolition of existing laws in these areas:

  • Civil law
  • Criminal law
  • Commercial and Company law
  • Copyright and protecting industrial property rights
  • Organisation and procedures of the courts (except the Labour and Social Security Courts)

The ministry also oversees the laws about qualifying and working as a judge, prosecutor, lawyer or notary

The ministry has also been responsible for the legal problems after the reunification of Germany. This meant changing a lot of criminal and administrative law. Also professional rehabilitation was needed. Judges and lawyers were just some of the people who were used to working in the communist system, and now had to change.

Furthermore, the ministry checks that all laws and ordinances prepared by other ministries do not break the constitution.

The Ministry publishes the official newspaper the "Bundesgesetzblatt" the Federal Law Gazette und "Bundesanzeiger" the Federal Gazette. It also prepares the elections of Judges to the Bundesverfassungsgerichts and the highest level of federal courts.

List of Justice Ministers

Federal Ministers of Justice since 1949
Party No Name Life data Term start Term end
FDP 1 Thomas Dehler 1897-1967 20 September 1949 20 October 1953
FDP 2 Fritz Neumayer 1884-1973 20 October 1953 16 October 1956
DP 3 Hans-Joachim von Merkatz 1905-1982 16 October 1956 29 October 1957
CSU 4 Fritz Schäffer 1888-1967 29 October 1957 14 November 1961
FDP 5 Wolfgang Stammberger 1920-1982 14 November 1961 19 November 1962
FDP/DVP 6 Ewald Bucher 1914-1991 13 December 1962 27 March 1965
CDU 7 Karl Weber 1898-1985 1 April 1965 26 October 1965
CSU 8 Richard Jaeger 1913-1998 26 October 1965 30 November 1966
SPD 9 Gustav Heinemann 1899-1976 1 December 1966 26 March 1969
SPD 10 Horst Ehmke 1927-2017 26 March 1969 21 October 1969
SPD 11 Gerhard Jahn 1927-1998 22 October 1969 7 May 1974
SPD 12 Hans-Jochen Vogel 1926- 16 May 1974 22 January 1981
SPD 13 Jürgen Schmude 1936- 22 January 1981 1 October 1982
FDP 14 Hans A. Engelhard 1934-2008 4 October 1982 18 January 1991
FDP/DVP
(Before 1991, independent)
15 Klaus Kinkel 1936- 18 January 1991 18 May 1992
FDP 16 Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger 1951- 18 May 1992 17 January 1996
FDP 17 Edzard Schmidt-Jortzig 1941- 17 January 1996 26 October 1998
SPD 18 Herta Däubler-Gmelin 1943- 27 October 1998 22 October 2002
SPD 19 Brigitte Zypries 1953- 22 October 2002 27 October 2009
FDP 20 Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger 1951- 28 October 2009 17 December 2013
SPD 21 Heiko Maas 1966- 17 December 2013 Present