The German Richterbund points out that many proceedings are not completed quickly enough – also because the prosecutors have to work through ever larger amounts of data. Above all, more staff is needed.
The German Judges Association points out that many procedures have become more complex.
The German Richterbund deplores longer procedures and a heavy burden on prosecutors and judges. „Criminal proceedings must lead as soon as possible to a verdict, but instead the proceedings take more and more time, especially in the district courts,“ said the federal director of the judges‘ union, Sven Rebehn, the editorial network Germany (RND).
„This trend must be stopped,“ he added. „Public prosecutors in particular are increasingly becoming a bottleneck in prosecution if politicians are not prepared to make the judiciary much better nationwide,“ said Rebehn.
More than 19 months per procedure
Calculated from receipt at the public prosecutor’s office, the first-instance proceedings take more than 19 months according to the district court judge – more than 19 months according to the professional association „as long as never“. Rebehn attributes the longer procedures to different causes.
The procedures had become more complex and were often directed against internationally branched groups of offenders, he said. In addition, the amounts of data to be evaluated would have multiplied. „In extensive criminal cases, not infrequently fall hundreds of folders and several terabytes of data,“ said the Chief Executive of the judges.
According to the district court, the heavy burden on the judiciary also means that one detainee has to be released from pre-trial detention every week because the proceedings took an unreasonably long time. It simply needed more staff.
