German Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig has presented a draft law to relieve administrative courts and speed up procedures. The German Judges' Association welcomes the direction but criticizes the plans as insufficient and demands more staff. A new wave of asylum lawsuits is intensifying pressure on the courts.
On Monday, German Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) presented a draft law aimed at modernizing and relieving administrative courts. The reforms are intended to speed up procedures without increasing workload. Provisions include allowing single judges to decide more often and enabling courts to better counter abusive lawsuits, such as by requiring a court cost advance in hopeless cases.
The German Judges' Association (DRB) views the plans as heading in the right direction but warns against excessive expectations. "The reform plans for the procedural law of administrative courts are going in the right direction," DRB federal manager Sven Rebehn told the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND). Hubig is thereby presenting "concrete proposals for the first pillar of the rule of law pact." However: "The accelerating effects of the legal changes are likely to remain limited."
The main bottleneck is not in procedural law but in personnel staffing, Rebehn emphasized. "The supporting pillar of a rule of law pact between the federal government and states must be the personnel strengthening of the courts." Administrative courts are under significant pressure: There were about 72,000 main proceedings in 2023, more than 100,000 in 2024, and a 50 percent increase is expected for 2025.
Despite declining asylum applications, this does not relieve the courts. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees is processing its backlog faster, triggering a new wave of lawsuits. "The new asylum lawsuit wave is also stalling the trend toward shorter court proceedings again," Rebehn said. "The federal states must now urgently further strengthen the administrative courts to get ahead of the wave."
Other elements of the draft include simplifying appeals, regulations on pending decisions in urgent proceedings, and more effective coercion measures. The maximum coercion fine is to rise from 10,000 to 25,000 euros, and objections to authority decisions are to be possible via email.
