# Federal Ministry of Justice (Germany)

The Federal Ministry of Justice (German: Bundesministerium der Justiz, pronounced ; abbreviated BMJ) is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. Under the German federal system, individual States are most responsible for the administration of justice and the application of penalties. The Federal Ministry of Justice devotes itself to creating and changing law in the classic core areas related to Constitutional law. The Ministry also analyzes the legality and constitutionality of laws prepared by other ministries. The German Federal Court of Justice, the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (GPTO), and the German Patent Court all fall under its scope, including affairs on court administration. The ministry is officially located in Berlin.
The BMJ was founded on 1 January 1877 as the Imperial Justice Office (Reichsjustizamt). After Germany became a republic in 1919, it was renamed Reichsministerium der Justiz (Imperial ministry of Justice). The ministry was refounded as the Bundesministerium der Justiz in 1949. In several laws predating 1949, the ministry and the minister are however referred to as Reichsministerium der Justiz and Reichsminister der Justiz, respectively. This has gradually been replaced with the new name and title when laws have been amended, most recently in 2010.

## Compentencies

In Germany's federal system, the administration of justice, the judiciary and law enforcement are primarily the responsibility of the Länder. The central task of the Federation in the field of justice is to safeguard and develop the rule of law. Legislative activity corresponds to this objective. It includes the preparation of new laws and the preparation and amendment or repeal of laws in the classical areas of law, namely civil law, criminal law, commercial and company law, copyright and industrial property law, court constitutional and procedural law for the individual jurisdictions (with the exception of labour and social courts), as well as service and professional law for judges, public prosecutors, lawyers and notaries. In addition, the Ministry is responsible for the tasks arising from the establishment of German unity in the areas of criminal, administrative and professional rehabilitation and "open property issues". The Ministry also examines the legal form of all draft laws and regulations prepared by other ministries in order to ensure that the legislation is compatible with the Basic Law.
The Ministry's portfolio includes the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe with two criminal divisions in Leipzig, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office at the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe with an office in Leipzig, the Federal Office of Justice with the Federal Central Register in Bonn, the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig, the Federal Fiscal Court in Munich, the Federal Patent Court in Munich and the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) in Munich with offices in Berlin and Jena.

## List of ministers
### State Secretaries for Justice, 1876–1918

* Heinrich Friedberg 1876–1879
* Hermann von Schelling 1879–1889
* Otto von Oehlschläger 1889–1891
* Robert Bosse 1891–1892
* Eduard von Hanauer 1892–1893
* Rudolf Arnold Nieberding 1893–1909
* Hermann Lisco 1909–1917
* Paul Georg Christof von Krause 1917–1919

### Ministers of Justice, 1918–1945

| No. | Portrait | Name (Born-Died) | Term | Term | Term | Political Party | Government |
| No. | Portrait | Name (Born-Died) | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Political Party | Government |
| 1 | | Otto Landsberg (1869–1957) | 13 February 1919 | 20 June 1919 | 127 days | SPD | Scheidemann |
| 2 | | Eugen Schiffer (1860–1954) | 3 October 1919 | 26 March 1920 | 175 days | DDP | Bauer |
| 3 | | Andreas Blunck (1871–1933) | 26 March 1920 | 8 June 1920 | 74 days | DDP | Müller I |
| 4 | | Rudolf Heinze (1865–1928) | 25 June 1920 | 4 May 1921 | 313 days | DVP | Fehrenbach |
| 5 (2) | | Eugen Schiffer (1860–1954) | 10 May 1921 | 22 October 1921 | 165 days | DDP | Wirth I |
| 6 | | Gustav Radbruch (1878–1949) | 26 October 1921 | 14 November 1922 | 1 year, 19 days | SPD | Wirth II |
| 7 (4) | | Rudolf Heinze (1865–1928) | 22 November 1922 | 12 August 1923 | 263 days | DVP | Cuno |
| 8 (6) | | Gustav Radbruch (1878–1949) | 13 August 1923 | 3 November 1923 | 82 days | SPD | Stresemann I–II |
| 9 | | Erich Emminger (1880–1951) | 30 November 1923 | 15 April 1924 | 137 days | BVP | Marx I |
| – | | Kurt Joël (1865–1945) Acting | 15 April 1924 | 15 December 1924 | 244 days | Independent | Marx I–II |
| 7 | | Josef Frenken (1854–1943) | 15 January 1925 | 21 November 1925 | 341 days | Centre | Luther I |
| – | | Hans Luther (1879–1962) Acting | 21 November 1925 | 5 December 1925 | 349 days | Independent | Luther I |
| 8 | | Wilhelm Marx (1863–1946) | 20 January 1926 | 12 May 1926 | 112 days | Centre | Luther II Marx III |
| 9 | | Johannes Bell (1868–1949) | 16 May 1926 | 17 December 1926 | 215 days | Centre | Marx III |
| 10 | | Oskar Hergt (1869–1967) | 28 January 1927 | 12 June 1928 | 1 year, 136 days | DNVP | Marx III–IV |
| 11 | | Erich Koch-Weser (1875–1944) | 28 June 1928 | 13 April 1929 | 289 days | DDP | Müller II |
| 12 | | Theodor von Guérard (1863–1943) | 13 April 1929 | 27 March 1930 | 348 days | Centre | Müller II |
| 13 | | Johann Viktor Bredt (1879–1940) | 30 March 1930 | 5 December 1930 | 250 days | WP | Brüning I |
| 14 | | Kurt Joël (1865–1945) | 5 December 1930 | 30 May 1932 | 1 year, 177 days | Independent | Brüning I–II |
| 15 | | Franz Gürtner (1881–1941) | 1 June 1932 | 29 January 1941 † | 8 years, 242 days | DNVP NSDAP | Papen Schleicher Hitler |
| 16 | | Franz Schlegelberger (1876–1970) | 30 January 1941 | 20 August 1942 | 1 year, 202 days | NSDAP | Hitler |
| 17 | | Otto Georg Thierack (1889–1946) | 20 August 1942 | 2 May 1945 | 2 years, 255 days | NSDAP | Hitler Goebbels |
| – | | Herbert Klemm (1903–1963) Acting | 5 May 1945 | 23 May 1945 | 18 days | NSDAP | Schwerin von Krosigk |

### Federal Ministers, since 1949

Political Party:  FDP  DP  CSU  CDU  SPD  Independent
| Name (Born-Died) | Name (Born-Died) | Party | Term of Office | Term of Office | Chancellor (Cabinet) |
| Federal Minister of Justice (1949–2013, 2021–present) Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection (2013–2021) |||||||
| 1 | Thomas Dehler (1897–1967) | FDP | 20 September 1949 | 20 October 1953 | Adenauer (I) |
| 2 | Fritz Neumayer (1884–1973) | FDP | 20 October 1953 | 16 October 1956 | Adenauer (II) |
| 3 | Hans-Joachim von Merkatz (1905–1982) | DP | 16 October 1956 | 29 October 1957 | Adenauer (II) |
| 4 | Fritz Schäffer (1888–1967) | CSU | 29 October 1957 | 14 November 1961 | Adenauer (III) |
| 5 | Wolfgang Stammberger (1920–1982) | FDP | 14 November 1961 | 19 November 1962 | Adenauer (IV) |
| 6 | Ewald Bucher (1914–1991) | FDP | 14 December 1962 | 27 March 1965 | Adenauer (V) Erhard (I) |
| 7 | Karl Weber (1898–1985) | CDU | 1 April 1965 | 26 October 1965 | Erhard (I) |
| 8 | Richard Jaeger (1913–1998) | CSU | 26 October 1965 | 30 November 1966 | Erhard (II) |
| 9 | Gustav Heinemann (1899–1976) | SPD | 1 December 1966 | 26 March 1969 | Kiesinger (I) |
| 10 | Horst Ehmke (1927–2017) | SPD | 26 March 1969 | 21 October 1969 | Kiesinger (I) |
| 11 | Gerhard Jahn (1927–1998) | SPD | 22 October 1969 | 7 May 1974 | Brandt (I • II) |
| 12 | Hans-Jochen Vogel (1926–2020) | SPD | 16 May 1974 | 22 January 1981 | Schmidt (I • II • III) |
| 13 | Jürgen Schmude (1936–2025) | SPD | 22 January 1981 | 1 October 1982 | Schmidt (III) |
| 14 | Hans A. Engelhard (1934–2008) | FDP | 4 October 1982 | 18 January 1991 | Kohl (I • II • III) |
| 15 | Klaus Kinkel (1936–2019) | No party; FDP (from 1991) | 18 January 1991 | 18 May 1992 | Kohl (IV) |
| 16 | Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (b. 1951) | FDP | 18 May 1992 | 17 January 1996 | Kohl (IV • V) |
| 17 | Edzard Schmidt-Jortzig (b. 1941) | FDP | 17 January 1996 | 26 October 1998 | Kohl (V) |
| 18 | Herta Däubler-Gmelin (b. 1943) | SPD | 27 October 1998 | 22 October 2002 | Schröder (I) |
| 19 | Brigitte Zypries (b. 1953) | SPD | 22 October 2002 | 28 October 2009 | Schröder (II) Merkel (I) |
| 20 (16) | Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (b. 1951) | FDP | 28 October 2009 | 17 December 2013 | Merkel (II) |
| 21 | Heiko Maas (b. 1966) | SPD | 17 December 2013 | 14 March 2018 | Merkel (III) |
| 22 | Katarina Barley (b. 1968) | SPD | 14 March 2018 | 27 June 2019 | Merkel (IV) |
| 23 | Christine Lambrecht (b. 1965) | SPD | 27 June 2019 | 8 December 2021 | Merkel (IV) |
| 24 | Marco Buschmann (b. 1977) | FDP | 8 December 2021 | 7 November 2024 | Scholz (I) |
| 25 | Volker Wissing (b. 1970) | Independent | 7 November 2024 | Incumbent | Scholz (I) |