Bundestag | Election of judges in the Bundestag: Votes of the Left needed

Josef Christ is scheduled to retire from his position as a judge at the Federal Constitutional Court in November 2024 due to age. However, he remains in office in an acting capacity because no successor has yet been found. Filling the Karlsruhe judgeships is a political act. There are 16 judges at the Federal Constitutional Court. The Bundesrat (Federal Council) is authorized to propose eight judges, while the Bundestag (German Parliament) proposes the other half. Previously, the agreement in place was that the CDU and SPD each proposed three judges, and the Greens and FDP each had one nomination. The election was then made by consensus among the participating parties, as a two-thirds majority is required to elect judges to the Federal Constitutional Court.

In January, the election of a successor to Josef Christ failed, probably because the Greens had reservations about the CDU and CSU proposal. Federal Administrative Judge Robert Seegmüller was allegedly too critical of migration for the Greens. In May, the judges of the Federal Constitutional Court met and submitted three proposals to the Bundestag. The court is allowed to do this if there is no progress in the election of judges in the Bundestag. The Federal Constitutional Court's list of proposals also sets a deadline of three months after which the election option passes from the Bundestag to the Bundesrat. A change in the law last year is intended to protect the Constitutional Court against politically motivated blockades .

If the Bundestag now wants to exercise its right, it must act quickly, as the parliamentary summer recess begins soon. The electoral committee is scheduled to deliberate on the candidates this Monday, and the election will take place on Thursday. However, there are at least two problems ahead. First, the CDU/CSU, SPD, and Greens need the Left Party to achieve a two-thirds majority. Second, in addition to Christ's successor, two other judicial positions still need to be filled. The SPD has the right to propose candidates for both. However, members of the CDU/CSU have already announced their opposition to Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf's nomination because she is a pro-abortion activist.

The other two positions are less controversial. Ann-Katrin Kaufhold, a professor at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, was nominated by the SPD. Josef Christ's position as judge is to be taken over by Federal Labor Court Judge Günter Spinner. The judges of the Federal Constitutional Court had placed him at the top of their list. The CDU has now adopted this proposal.

The majority for the election of the three judges now depends on the Left Party. To achieve this, it demands participation. "We want the nomination key to be changed and for us to be entitled to a nomination," party leader Jan van Aken told the "Rheinische Post" a few days ago. "Of course, the CDU can then propose someone we would vote for, even if they are not our heartfelt desire. But in return, we are equally entitled to propose someone who is not the CDU's heartfelt desire."

The problem now: So far, the CDU has shown itself unwilling to engage in dialogue. As with its refusal to elect Heidi Reichinnek, Ines Schwerdtner, and Tamara Mazzi to Bundestag committees , the CDU is threatening to block the talks and citing its incompatibility resolution. "This time, it won't work without The Left – and that's precisely why a democratic consensus is needed. But the CDU/CSU has so far blocked talks and is trying to lump us in with the AfD," Clara Bünger, legal policy spokesperson for The Left, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Whether the CDU/CSU will move remains uncertain. The Bundestag won't have to fill the next judicial posts until 2029. The Left Party is unlikely to receive a firm commitment from the CDU for a judicial post in four years.