Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – The statements by Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) on the dispute over the top post at the Higher Regional Court in Stuttgart are met with incomprehension by the German Association of Judges (DRB). The federal chairmen Andrea Titz and Joachim Lüblinghoff criticized on Wednesday in Berlin that the Green politician supports the actions of Justice Minister Marion Gentges (CDU).
The CDU politician is opposed to the proposal by a body made up of judges and is bringing up another candidate as the new president of the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court. However, because this was rejected by the so-called Presidential Council, the ministry has applied for an injunction so that the administrative court can decide on the issue.
Gentges argues that her candidate had a “head start” in the application process. The question now is whether the Presidential Council can control a personnel decision or replace it with a decision of its own.
Titz and Lüblinghoff explained: “The right of participation of the Presidential Council in Baden-Württemberg has proven itself so far.” Cutting it contrary to the mechanisms provided by law means an attack on the independence of the judiciary. “We would therefore have expected the Prime Minister of the country to take a clear position in favor of the judiciary.”
Kretschmann had stated that the application for an injunction was not unfounded. Clarity must be created between the powers. From Kretschmann’s point of view, the judgments of the courts always have the last word. “But how the powers set themselves up against each other is of course also a question of adjusting the powers to each other.”
