The Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (; abbreviated BMJV) is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. Under the German federal system, individual States are most responsible for the administration of justice and the application of penalties. The Federal Ministry of Justice devotes itself to creating and changing law in the classic core areas related to Constitutional law. The Ministry also analyzes the legality and constitutionality of laws prepared by other ministries. The German Federal Court of Justice, the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (GPTO), and the German Patent Court all fall under its scope, including affairs on court administration. The ministry is officially located in Berlin.
The BMJ was founded on 1 January 1877 as the Imperial Justice Office (). After Germany became a republic in 1919, it was renamed (Imperial ministry of Justice). The ministry was refounded as the Bundesministerium der Justiz in 1949. In several laws predating 1949, the ministry and the minister are however referred to as Reichsministerium der Justiz and Reichsminister der Justiz, respectively. This has gradually been replaced with the new name and title when laws have been amended, most recently in 2010.
Competencies In Germany's federal system, the administration of justice, the judiciary and law enforcement are primarily the responsibility of the Länder. The central task of the Federation in the field of justice is to safeguard and develop the rule of law. Legislative activity corresponds to this objective. It includes the preparation of new laws and the preparation and amendment or repeal of laws in the classical areas of law, namely civil law, criminal law, commercial and company law, copyright and industrial property law, court constitutional and procedural law for the individual jurisdictions (with the exception of labour and social courts), as well as service and professional law for judges, public prosecutors, lawyers and notaries. In addition, the Ministry is responsible for the tasks arising from the establishment of German unity in the areas of criminal, administrative and professional rehabilitation and "open property issues". The Ministry also examines the legal form of all draft laws and regulations prepared by other ministries in order to ensure that the legislation is compatible with the Basic Law.
The Ministry's portfolio includes the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe with two criminal divisions in Leipzig, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office at the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe with an office in Leipzig, the Federal Office of Justice with the Federal Central Register in Bonn, the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig, the Federal Fiscal Court in Munich, the Federal Patent Court in Munich and the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) in Munich with offices in Berlin and Jena.
List of ministers
State Secretaries for Justice, 1876–1919
Heinrich Friedberg 1876–1879 Hermann von Schelling 1879–1889 Otto von Oehlschläger 1889–1891 Robert Bosse 1891–1892 Eduard von Hanauer 1892–1893 Rudolf Arnold Nieberding 1893–1909 Hermann Lisco 1909–1917 Paul Georg Christof von Krause 1917–1919
Ministers of Justice, 1919–1945 Portrait Name(Born-Died) Term Political Party Government Took office Left office Time in office
Federal Ministers, since 1949 Political Party:
Name(Born-Died)Portrait Party Term of Office Chancellor(Cabinet) 1 Thomas Dehler(1897–1967) FDP 20 September 1949 20 October 1953 Adenauer (I) 2 Fritz Neumayer(1884–1973) FDP 20 October 1953 16 October 1956Adenauer (II) 3 Hans-Joachim von Merkatz(1905–1982) DP 16 October 1956 29 October 1957 4 Fritz Schäffer(1888–1967) CSU 29 October 1957 14 November 1961 Adenauer (III) 5 Wolfgang Stammberger(1920–1982)FDP 14 November 1961 19 November 1962 Adenauer (IV) 6 Ewald Bucher(1914–1991) FDP 14 December 1962 27 March 1965 Adenauer (V) Erhard (I) 7 Karl Weber (1898–1985) CDU 1 April 1965 26 October 1965 Erhard (I) 8 Richard Jaeger(1913–1998) CSU 26 October 1965 30 November 1966 Erhard (II) 9 Gustav Heinemann(1899–1976) SPD 1 December 1966 26 March 1969 Kiesinger (I) 10 Horst Ehmke(1927–2017) SPD 26 March 1969 21 October 1969 Kiesinger (I) 11 Gerhard Jahn(1927–1998) SPD 22 October 1969 7 May 1974 Brandt (I • II) 12 Hans-Jochen Vogel(1926–2020) SPD 16 May 1974 22 January 1981 Schmidt (I • II • III) 13 Jürgen Schmude(1936–2025) SPD 22 January 1981 1 October 1982 Schmidt (III) 14 Hans A. Engelhard(1934–2008) FDP 4 October 1982 18 January 1991 Kohl (I • II • III) 15 Klaus Kinkel(1936–2019) No party;FDP (from 1991) 18 January 1991 18 May 1992 Kohl (IV) 16 Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger(b. 1951) FDP 18 May 1992 17 January 1996 Kohl (IV • V) 17 Edzard Schmidt-Jortzig(b. 1941) FDP 17 January 1996 26 October 1998 Kohl (V) 18 Herta Däubler-Gmelin(b. 1943) SPD 27 October 1998 22 October 2002 Schröder (I) 19 Brigitte Zypries(b. 1953) SPD 22 October 2002 28 October 2009 Schröder (II) Merkel (I) 20 Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger(b. 1951) FDP 28 October 2009 17 December 2013 Merkel (II) 21 Heiko Maas(b. 1966) SPD 17 December 2013 14 March 2018 Merkel (III) 22 Katarina Barley(b. 1968) SPD 14 March 2018 27 June 2019 Merkel (IV) 23 Christine Lambrecht(b. 1965) SPD 27 June 2019 8 December 2021 Merkel (IV) 24 Marco Buschmann(b. 1977) FDP 8 December 2021 7 November 2024 Scholz (I) 25 Volker Wissing(b. 1970) Independent 7 November 2024 6 May 2025 Scholz (I) 26 Stefanie Hubig(b. 1968) SPD 6 May 2025 Incumbent Merz (I)
References
External links
Official Website Official homepage in German Official homepage in English
Others Official translation of parts of German federal laws Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety