The NRW Minister of the Interior wants to be able to dismiss civil servants more quickly from civil service for crimes such as incitement to hatred.
(Photo: imago images/Future Image)
Berlin The investigations by the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office into suspected conspirators from the “Reichsbürger” scene have further fueled the debate about extremists in the civil service. The Minister of the Interior of North Rhine-Westphalia, Herbert Reul (CDU), called for a change in the law to make it easier for extremists in the civil service to be dismissed from civil service.
“In the case of crimes that shake basic trust in the state to a large extent, officials must be able to be removed from the service without further delay,” Reul told the Handelsblatt. Sedition of the people is a “clear case” for him. “Inclusion in the Civil Service Status Act would be logical here, also to avoid long-term disciplinary proceedings.”
Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) is already planning a corresponding tightening of the law in order to get rid of federal civil servants more quickly. Deutschlandfunk reported on the details. Accordingly, the disciplinary authorities should in future be able to initiate all measures themselves – including the removal of people from the civil service. A disciplinary action before the administrative court should then no longer be necessary.
Faeser had announced changes in disciplinary law after the raids. So far, disciplinary proceedings against civil servants can take several years. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the average processing time in official proceedings was just under 15 months, and in court proceedings almost 30 months.
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On Wednesday, the federal prosecutor’s office smashed up a terrorist group that is assigned to the so-called Reich citizens and is said to have planned a political overthrow in Germany. 25 people were arrested, including members of the police and army and the Berlin judge and former AfD member of the Bundestag Birgit Malsack-Winkemann.
Regulation from Baden-Württemberg as a model
The accused also include a state security officer at the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) in Lower Saxony, who was released from duty due to criminal investigations. “Reich citizens” are people who do not recognize the Federal Republic and its democratic structures.
Before the end of this year, Faeser wants to submit a draft law for approval by the other departments of the federal government, which is intended to speed up the dismissal of extremists from civil servants. According to information from the Handelsblatt, the minister is based on a regulation that has been in force in Baden-Württemberg for several years.
Since a comprehensive reform of disciplinary law in 2008, all disciplinary measures in the federal state have been ordered by administrative act (disciplinary decree). “This simplifies and accelerates the disciplinary procedure,” said Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU) to the Handelsblatt.
In the federal government, on the other hand, the decision on the removal of a civil servant from the civil service has so far been the responsibility of the courts. A federal regulation based on the Baden-Württemberg model would probably be possible without any problems, since the Federal Constitutional Court has already confirmed the constitutional admissibility of this regulation (decision of January 14, 2020; Az. 2 BvR 2055/16).
Faeser also wants to tighten another regulation. Accordingly, civil servants who are sentenced to at least six months in prison for incitement to hatred should be automatically removed from public service.
Faeser wants to further tighten gun laws
The interior minister also wants to increase the pressure on the Reich citizen scene “to the maximum”, as she told the “Bild am Sonntag”. To this end, the government will “soon further tighten gun laws,” explained the SPD politician. More than 1,000 Reich citizens have already had their gun permits withdrawn.
“We are not dealing with harmless crackpots, but with terror suspects who are all in custody now,” said Faeser, referring to the nationwide raids last week. According to Faeser, the number of people who the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution assigns to the Reichsbürger milieu has risen by 2000 to 23,000 compared to the previous year. 239 acts of violence by Reich citizens were registered last year, she said.
Traffic light politicians are concerned about the security of parliament in view of the arrested former AfD deputy, who was still in possession of a Bundestag card, and are calling for the security concept of the Bundestag to be reconsidered.
Since March 8, the AfD has been observed by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a “suspected case” of an anti-democratic movement. The administrative court in Cologne has cleared the way for this. But it’s not the last word yet. The AfD had appealed the verdict.
The NRW Ministry of the Interior supports the observation of the federal association of the AfD. However, the assessments of the court and the federal office could not simply be adopted for the AfD state association, since state law in North Rhine-Westphalia requires its own assessment,” explained the Ministry of the Interior. As part of this assessment, the effects of the Cologne judgment on the AfD in North Rhine-Westphalia will be examined, among other things.
More: 25 alleged Reich citizens arrested in raid