Germany faces prosecutor shortage, leading to case delays

Germany's justice system is struggling with a significant deficit of 2,000 prosecutors, according to the German Judges Association (Deutscher Richterbund).

Sven Rebehn, the association's managing director, told Bild am Sonntag that in nearly all federal states, three investigators are burdened with the work of four. This imbalance is causing criminal proceedings to drag on and leading to the premature closure of smaller cases. "Nationwide, public prosecutor's offices are currently missing 2,000 additional investigators to be able to work through the massive backlog of cases in criminal prosecution," Rebehn stated.

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In almost all federal states, three investigators have to do the work of four, so that criminal proceedings take longer and smaller cases are dismissed more often.

The German Judges Association, the largest professional body for judges and prosecutors, is calling for decisive political decisions before the upcoming summer recess to fill this personnel gap, which they warn is continuously widening. This call comes despite previous commitments from the government.

Nearly a year ago, Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) pledged that the federal states would receive approximately half a billion euros over the next four years to create additional positions in the judiciary and enhance digitalization. Federal Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) also emphasized the need for well-equipped prosecutor's offices to effectively combat tax fraud and evasion. In November, federal and state governments agreed on digitalization as a key pillar of the "Pact for the Rule of Law," set to be revised in 2026. However, the federal government's commitment of 70 million euros annually from 2027 to 2029 was deemed insufficient by the states. Hesse's Minister-President Boris Rhein (CDU) criticized in January that the federal government intended to fund new judge positions for only one or two years, leaving the states to bear the lifelong costs. He even threatened to cease all relevant agreements with the federal government regarding the Pact for the Rule of Law.

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Nationwide, public prosecutor's offices are currently missing 2,000 additional investigators to be able to work through the massive backlog of cases in criminal prosecution.