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Jens Maier: Now district judge in Dippoldiswalde
Photo: HAYOUNG JEON/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
The Greens, who co-govern in Saxony, now want to prepare a so-called judge's indictment against ex-AfD MP Jens Maier in the state parliament.
The Green faction relies on a report presented today by the Berlin constitutional lawyer Christoph Möllers, which analyzes the possibilities and risks of such an accusation.
The charges against judges are regulated in the Basic Law, but have never been raised nationwide.
After that, such a step is possible in principle and should be prepared - but only in the event that the other ongoing proceedings do not promptly lead to Maier being removed from office.
The Ministry of Justice, led by Green Party politician Katja Meier, has already applied for Judge Maier to be retired and has filed an urgent motion to temporarily ban him from official business.
In addition, there are disciplinary proceedings against Jens Maier.
more on the subject
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Right-wing extremist as a judge: law and disorder by Steffen Winter and Dietmar Hipp
Ex-AfD MP Jens Maier: Right-wing judge may temporarily return to the judiciary
The report shows that the judge's indictment by the state parliament in the Maier case is a suitable instrument, said the parliamentary group's spokesman for constitutional policy, Valentin Lippmann, when presenting the analysis.
It is about "ending the intolerable situation that a right-wing extremist is administering justice in Germany".
The 60-year-old Maier, who has not been a member of parliament since the 2021 federal election, had applied to return to his former position as a judge, as he is entitled to according to the Law on Members of Parliament.
Last week he took up his post as district judge for civil matters in Dippoldiswalde in East Saxony.
Exactly when his re-employment as a judge began, the Dresden Regional Court opened disciplinary proceedings on suspicion of having violated "duties of loyalty to the constitution, political moderation and respectful and trustworthy behavior".
At the same time, Minister of Justice Meier started an attempt to put the right-wing judge on temporary retirement, based on Section 31 of the German Judges Act.
According to this, a judge can be "retired" "if facts outside his judicial activity compellingly require a measure of this kind in order to avert a serious impairment of the administration of justice".
However, even if he succeeded, he would still be entitled to a pension.
With the judge's indictment, the state parliament could now turn to the Federal Constitutional Court to obtain Maier's dismissal.
Karlsruhe would then have to weigh up the – possibly anti-constitutional – behavior of Maier on the one hand and the protection of the judiciary on the other.
Möllers sees statements with a certain affinity for violence
Whether this will be successful is difficult to predict, said legal scholar Möllers, referring to the lack of experience with this instrument.
However, Möllers spoke of a case that was quite clear in the matter.
So Maier doesn't even try to hide his views behind codes.
He also confessed to the officially dissolved wing within the AfD, which was observed by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution – as well as to the Pegida movement, which was also under observation.
"Judges who have a certain form of attitude are very often biased towards the vulnerable groups to whom they have made derogatory comments," said Möllers.
He also noticed an incident in which Maier granted the NPD emergency legal protection.
The party wanted to ban the political scientist Steffen Kailitz, who even the Federal Constitutional Court had heard as an expert in the NPD ban proceedings at the time, from making certain scientific statements about the party.
Möllers sees this as an indication that Maier not only represents his views privately, but that they also shaped him in his judicial office.
Two-year time limit for indictment as an obstacle
According to Möllers, however, it is problematic that many of Maier's incriminated statements are now long ago.
This was the NPD's summary procedure back in 2016. Violations by a judge in office can only be brought forward by a judge within six months after the decision in question has become final, Möllers explains in his report.
In the case of violations by the judge outside of his office, a period of two years applies.
A deadline that, according to Möllers, "is based on an action, but not on an aggressive attitude as a kind of permanent state."
Statements in support of the right-wing extremist “wing” of the AfD, namely in appearances with Björn Höcke, and in his commitment to the Pegida movement, which was last publicly formulated in autumn 2021, would be more recent and therefore clearly usable.
However, Möllers thinks it is “quite possible that other such statements can be found”.
In addition, however, Möllers considers it conceivable that the constitutional judges could also indirectly rely on older statements in order to get an overall picture.
According to Möllers, there is "no doubt" that statements made by Maier during his time as a member of the German Bundestag can be used in the context of the judge's indictment.
The Maier case, Möllers concludes, could "offer an opportunity to apply the judge's indictment in practice for the first time and to clarify the uncertainties of the procedure and to discuss them from a legal and political point of view".
However, the impeachment by a judge would have consequences for the other two ongoing proceedings: because as soon as the impeachment by a judge was brought, it would take precedence - and the other proceedings would be suspended until the Federal Constitutional Court had decided.
Difficult task for the state parliament
However, it is uncertain whether the state parliament will ultimately bring about an indictment by a judge.
It starts with the fact that parliament – and not the executive branch, which is equipped with a comprehensive bureaucracy – would itself have to start processing potentially incriminating material against Maier.
After all, after a potentially lengthy parliamentary procedure, the motion for action would have to find a majority: the votes of two-thirds of all members of the state parliament present are required, but at least the majority of all MPs.
While SPD politician Hanka Kliese has already signaled approval of the new report and said that "all possibilities must be exhausted" to remove Maier from the judicial service, the CDU parliamentary group has been more skeptical so far - and pointed to difficulties.
For a two-thirds majority, the largest government faction would have to support the indictment.
"In our view, we must not lose any more time," said Green politician Lippmann.
“It is not justifiable to wait for a final judgment in disciplinary or retirement proceedings.”
April/hip