Overview

• The number of pending investigations in Hamburg rose from 22,900 in 2021 to 47,953 in 2024, the sharpest increase among German states.
• Unresolved cases in child pornography jumped from 387 to 1,473, while money laundering and theft investigations more than doubled.
• Average processing times climbed from 2.2 months in 2020 to 2.9 months last year as files piled up.
• Over 45 positions at the public prosecutor’s office remain vacant, including 17 prosecutorial roles and almost a dozen administrative slots.
• The AfD faction accuses the Senate of merely managing the backlog instead of solving it and demands structural reforms with comprehensive digitalization.