Insulting politicians: Geiert wants to abolish criminal offense

Saxony's Minister of Justice Constanze Geiert (CDU) is planning an initiative to abolish the criminal offense of insulting politicians. The justice ministers of the federal states and Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) are to discuss the abolition of the relevant paragraph at their conference in Hamburg next week and, in the best-case scenario, decide on it, the Ministry of Justice told the German Press Agency.

"I do not believe that special criminal law protection for politicians is necessary," said Geiert, explaining the proposal in Stern magazine. The relevant section 188 has not yet effectively prevented attacks on public officials and elected representatives. Instead, it fuels concerns that polemical debate in political discourse is no longer possible without further ado, the ministry added. The protection of political office holders is also possible without the paragraph, it argues.

Regulations on insulting offenses "partly incomprehensible"

In addition, Saxony's Minister of Justice is proposing a reform of insulting offenses in the Criminal Code as a whole in order to "increase legal certainty, protect freedom of expression and strengthen the protection of personality". The current regulations on the criminal liability of insulting offenses are partly incomprehensible. Clear boundaries are needed. "The punishability of words, especially political statements, must not be allowed to get out of hand," said Geiert. "It is time for us to critically review the current relationship between the protection of honor under criminal law and freedom of expression in German criminal law."