To strengthen trust
Kicking out extremist civil servants is becoming easier
November 17, 2023, 7:15 p.m
Nine months after the draft law was presented, it was passed by the Bundestag. This should allow employees in the public sector and the Bundeswehr to be fired more quickly if they share extremist opinions. This should also contribute to image cultivation.
Employees with extremist and anti-constitutional attitudes should be able to be removed more quickly from the public service and the Bundeswehr in the future. The Bundestag, with the majority of the traffic light factions, passed two laws that are intended to speed up the previously lengthy disciplinary procedures in such cases. The Union and AfD voted against both laws, the Left abstained. The coalition argues that rapid and effective punishment for misconduct in the public service and the Bundeswehr should strengthen the reputation and trust in the integrity of these institutions.
So far, employers in the public service can only achieve removal from civil service status through disciplinary action before the administrative court. According to the federal government, these procedures take an average of four years, during which those affected continue to receive a significant portion of their salaries.
Termination in the future by disciplinary order
The new regulation stipulates that in the future the authorities will be able to issue a disciplinary order against extremist officials – which will then be subsequently examined by the administrative court. The order can include all disciplinary measures, including demotion, removal from civil service status and withdrawal of pension. Those affected can file a lawsuit against the order.
The law for the accelerated removal of unconstitutional temporary and professional soldiers from the Bundeswehr, which the Bundestag also passed, provides for a similar procedure. Until now, they could only be dismissed from the force after the relevant disciplinary proceedings had been legally concluded. In the future, dismissal should be possible through an administrative act.
The prerequisite for such a dismissal is that the soldiers concerned “seriously pursue or support efforts that are directed against the free democratic basic order, the existence or security of the federal government or a state,” as the draft law states.
Faeser does not want to allow the rule of law to be sabotaged “from within”.
Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser welcomed the reform of disciplinary law in the public service. “We are a strong democracy that knows how to defend itself against its enemies,” she explained. Anyone who rejects the state cannot serve it. “We will not allow our democratic constitutional state to be sabotaged from within by extremists.”
Every case of extremism in the public service must have clear consequences – “especially to protect the reputation of the overwhelming majority of employees who stand up for our democracy every day.” However, Faeser emphasized that “of course” legal protection for those affected would remain guaranteed even after the reform.
Criticism from civil service unions and the Union faction
Civil servants’ unions and the Union parliamentary group criticized the new regulations for the public service: they exposed civil servants to the employer’s decisions without protection and showed mistrust of the civil service.
According to the federal government, 373 disciplinary measures were imposed in the federal administration in 2021. In relation to the total number of around 190,000 civil servants working for the federal government, less than 0.2 percent suffered disciplinary consequences.
The Federal Civil Service Act imposes a duty of loyalty to the constitution on civil servants. This means that through their entire behavior they must commit themselves to the free, democratic basic order in the sense of the Basic Law and work to preserve it. A similar obligation applies to temporary and professional soldiers.