Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) is pushing for rapid digitization of authorities and companies.
(Photo: Dietmar Gust, Euroforum)
Berlin Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) has appealed to managers to do more for digitization and to focus on the advantages for employees. It’s no use talking “with the corners of your mouth down” about digitization as a pure “fashion trend”, said Buschmann at the GovTech summit of the Handelsblatt on Tuesday in Berlin.
In truth, it’s about making people’s lives better through digitization, explained the 45-year-old. Nobody should end up in burnout in the face of a global struggle for talent and a simultaneous shrinking of the workforce. Because the tasks would not be less, said the minister. That’s why you can’t avoid, as Buschmann put it literally, “to part with the shit”.
He has the word from his party colleague, Digital Minister Volker Wissing. He comes from Rhineland-Palatinate, where tasks that are actually far too good for the human brain are called “shitty dirt”.
“That’s why digitization is something that we shouldn’t see as a burden,” emphasized the native of Gelsenkirchen. In fact, this would make the work more pleasant and interesting, “because we get rid of the shit, the computer does that”.
The minister, who studied law in Bonn and worked as a lawyer in Düsseldorf until 2009, countered the frequently expressed concern that increasing digitization would eventually lead to the end of work. That won’t happen. “On the contrary, we depend on good people using the most valuable thing they have between their ears, their brains, for creative, important, highly complex things.” The state must also guarantee this. That’s why it has to become more digital.
Buschmann referred to progress in his ministry. When he came into office, he found a “100 percent paper-driven agency,” he said. In the meantime, the ministry has completely switched to e-files and can do without paper. “As you can see, for me, digitization is more than just a point on a speech note,” says Buschmann. This is one of the reasons why his department is now helping other ministries to introduce electronic administrative files.
Electronic lawyer’s mailbox was a “total horror project”
Buschmann also sees the judiciary on the right track when it comes to digitization – even if things are not yet running smoothly here and there. The introduction of the so-called electronic mailbox for lawyers, for example, was a “total horror project”, explained the minister.
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The mailbox is a kind of e-mail program with a closed user group, which is mainly used by courts and lawyers to communicate. The project was something like the “BER of the legal profession” and often did not work. Buschmann was not yet Minister of Justice for this project.
But he too had to take criticism in his office. “A few months ago we had a very difficult situation with the state justice ministers,” said Buschmann. “They all called me names together.”
The reason for the dispute was that Buschmann had promised the federal states 200 million euros for projects to digitize their judicial authorities in the coming years. However, further funds – for example for additional positions – were not part of the offer.
From the point of view of the federal states, that was not enough. They demanded that the coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP implement the “rule of law pact 2.0” promised in the coalition agreement without any compromises. The dispute dragged on for months. Finally, at the end of March, agreement was reached on a joint strategy for the digitization of the judiciary.
Buschmann wants to digitize the civil process
Buschmann spoke of a “cleansing thunderstorm” and was satisfied that the topic was now “a matter for the boss” and that it was a priority once a year at the Federal and State Justice Ministers’ Conference.
The minister also sees the so-called “digital check” as an important measure. As a result, in the case of new draft laws and ordinances by the federal government, it is automatically checked whether digital implementation was also considered for the respective project.
The minister also considers the possibility of holding a general meeting without the personal presence of the shareholders to be an important digitization step. This format was introduced at the beginning of the corona pandemic. The annual shareholder meetings, where thousands of people usually come together to vote on the dividend payment, capital measures and the discharge of the management board and supervisory board, were allowed to take place online. Last summer, the Bundestag made the special regulation permanently possible with certain changes.
Buschmann also wants to digitize the civil process. With special conference technology, video negotiations and video evidence recordings and thus faster and more cost-effective proceedings should be possible in the future. Buschmann sees this as an important contribution to the desired modernization and digitization of the judiciary.
However, the minister is also aware that something like this cannot be enforced across the board overnight. Because, as he says, digitization “is of course a big deal”. And that also applies to the judiciary.
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