German Judiciary Faces Unprecedented Overload

The Deutsche Richterbund warns of severe strain on the justice system due to increasing case numbers and personnel shortages.

In 2023, over 5.5 million new cases were reported to German prosecutors, marking an increase of 350,000 from the previous year.
The number of pending cases at the end of 2023 reached 923,000, representing a 25% increase.
A significant backlog is attributed to rising reports of online hate speech, child pornography alerts from the US, and drug-related cases.
The Cannabis Legalization Act has necessitated the review of approximately 280,000 criminal records for retroactive sentence adjustments.
The Deutsche Richterbund calls for federal and state collaboration to address staffing shortages and improve judicial efficiency.