CDU/CSU pushes for sweeping reform of Code of Criminal Procedure, pressuring SPD Minister Hubig to overhaul justice rules
The Union is pressuring Federal Minister of Justice Stefanie Hubig (SPD) for a comprehensive reform of the Code of Criminal Procedure (StPO). Victims of criminal offenses must sometimes wait years for a verdict, said the Union parliamentary spokesperson on justice, Martin Plum (CDU), to the Rheinische Post. This development damages trust in the rule of law.
The criminal procedure is no longer up to date, Plum continued. Proceedings take too long and tie up too much personnel. The consequences for the rule of law are alarming: in 2025, there were first over one million criminal cases open nationwide among the public prosecutors. In the same year, 50 urgently suspected defendants would have had to be released from pre-trial detention because their procedures took too long.
On Monday, the expert commission established by the Federal Ministry of Justice on the reform of the Code of Criminal Procedure will present its final report. However, what has been revealed so far falls significantly short of what was agreed upon in the coalition agreement, Plum said. The main hearing must be freed from "unnecessary ballast." Evidence from the investigation must be more easily introduced into the main hearing. Therefore, Hubig must have the courage for a genuine structural reform.
