Free Voters Want to Reorganize Bavaria's Court System - Bavaria’s Free Voters Push Radical Court Reform to Cut Bureaucracy
The Free Voters party in Bavaria has proposed a major reform of the state’s court system. They want all courts to fall under the Ministry of Justice, arguing this would cut costs and improve efficiency. The plan is set to be discussed during their upcoming retreat in Berchtesgadener Land.
At present, Bavaria’s courts are spread across four different ministries. Ordinary courts report to the Ministry of Justice, while administrative courts come under the Ministry of the Interior. Labour and social courts are managed by the Ministry of Social Affairs, and fiscal courts answer to the Ministry of Finance. The Free Voters claim this creates unnecessary duplication and inefficiency.
The party highlights that other German states, including North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg, merged their court systems over 20 years ago. They argue that Bavaria’s current setup leads to 'dual structures and redundancies,' making the system less effective. Each ministry also runs its own human resources department for judicial and administrative staff, which the Free Voters say could be streamlined into a single personnel unit. Under their proposal, a unified system would allow staff to be redeployed more easily during structural changes. The party believes centralising court administration would create a leaner, more cost-effective system in the long run.
The Free Voters will push for their reform plan during their retreat in Berchtesgadener Land. If implemented, the changes would bring Bavaria in line with other states that have already consolidated their court systems. The move could also reduce administrative overheads and improve coordination across judicial branches.
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