Ministry of Justice of Germany

The Federal **Ministry of Justice** is a ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany.

## History

Germany has five "Classic Ministries", rather like the United Kingdom's "Great Offices of State".

The classic ministries are:
- Justice
- Interior
- Finance
- Defence (or "War" as it was called before World War II) and
- the Foreign Office

The Reich Justice Office was created in 1875. It was a part of the Chancellor's department until 1 January 1877 when it became independent. The first Minister of Justice was appointed in 1919, when the Office of Justice became the _Reichsministerium der Justiz_ of the Weimar Republic

### Political

The Federal Minister of Justice heads the Ministry. He has two senior assistants.
- The Parliamentary State Secretary, a member of the Bundestag who acts as a "junior minister"
- The "beamteter Staatssekretär". This is the senior civil servant of the department.

### Role

Germany is a federal country. The administration of the justice and criminal prosecution is mainly a matter for the federal states.

The federal ministry's main job is ensuring that federation and the states, and all laws, keep within the "Rule of Law".

The ministry oversees the writing of new laws, and the changing or the abolition of existing laws in these areas:
- Civil law
- Criminal law
- Commercial and Company law
- Copyright and protecting industrial property rights
- Organisation and procedures of the courts (except the Labour and Social Security Courts)

The ministry also oversees the laws about qualifying and working as a judge, prosecutor, lawyer or notary

The ministry has also been responsible for the legal problems after the reunification of Germany. This meant changing a lot of criminal and administrative law. Also professional rehabilitation was needed. Judges and lawyers were just some of the people who were used to working in the communist system, and now had to change.

Furthermore, the ministry checks that all laws and ordinances prepared by other ministries do not break the constitution.

The Ministry publishes the official newspaper the "Bundesgesetzblatt" the Federal Law Gazette und "Bundesanzeiger" the Federal Gazette. It also prepares the elections of Judges to the Bundesverfassungsgerichts and the highest level of federal courts.

## List of Justice Ministers

|colspan=6|Federal Ministers of Justice since 1949|||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|FDP|1|Thomas Dehler|1897-1967|20 September 1949|20 October 1953|
|FDP|2|Fritz Neumayer|1884-1973|20 October 1953|16 October 1956|
|DP|3|Hans-Joachim von Merkatz|1905-1982|16 October 1956|29 October 1957|
|CSU|4|Fritz Schäffer|1888-1967|29 October 1957|14 November 1961|
|FDP|5|Wolfgang Stammberger|1920-1982|14 November 1961|19 November 1962|
|FDP/DVP|6|Ewald Bucher|1914-1991|13 December 1962|27 March 1965|
|CDU|7|Karl Weber|1898-1985|1 April 1965|26 October 1965|
|CSU|8|Richard Jaeger|1913-1998|26 October 1965|30 November 1966|
|SPD|9|Gustav Heinemann|1899-1976|1 December 1966|26 March 1969|
|SPD|10|Horst Ehmke|1927-2017|26 March 1969|21 October 1969|
|SPD|11|Gerhard Jahn|1927-1998|22 October 1969|7 May 1974|
|SPD|12|Hans-Jochen Vogel|1926-2020|16 May 1974|22 January 1981|
|SPD|13|Jürgen Schmude|1936-|22 January 1981|1 October 1982|
|FDP|14|Hans A. Engelhard|1934-2008|4 October 1982|18 January 1991|
|FDP/DVP (Before 1991, independent)||15||Klaus Kinkel ||1936-||18 January 1991||18 May 1992||||||
|FDP|16|Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger|1951-|18 May 1992|17 January 1996|
|FDP|17|Edzard Schmidt-Jortzig|1941-|17 January 1996|26 October 1998|
|SPD|18|Herta Däubler-Gmelin|1943-|27 October 1998|22 October 2002|
|SPD|19|Brigitte Zypries|1953-|22 October  2002|27 October 2009|
|FDP|20|Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger|1951-|28 October 2009|17 December 2013|
|SPD|21|Heiko Maas|1966-|17 December 2013|14 March 2018|
|SPD|22|Katarina Barley|1968-|14 March 2018|27 June 2019|
|SPD|23|Christine Lambrecht|1965-|27 June 2019|8 December 2021|
|FDP|24|Marco Buschmann|1977-|8 December 2021|7 November 2024|
|Independent|25|Volker Wissing|1970-|7 November 2024|6 May 2025|
|SPD|26|Stefanie Hubig|1968-|6 May 2025||

## Infobox (government agency)

- **agency name**: Federal Ministry of Justice
- **nativename**: Bundesministerium der Justiz
- **logo**: Bundesadler Bundesorgane.svg
- **jurisdiction**: Government of Germany
- **formed**: 1 January 1877 as the _Reichsjustizamt_
- **headquarters**: Berlin
- **minister1 name**: Stefanie Hubig
Bundesministerin der Justiz
- **employees**: 620
- **website**: [http://www.bmj.bund.de/ bmj.bund.de]