Since 2018, a large number of anti-Semitism commissioners have been appointed in Germany's federal states and – at the request of the Bundestag – an anti-Semitism commissioner has also been appointed by the federal government. As is typical for government commissioners, these positions were appointed on the basis of political interest and regularly have only limited powers. The impact of these offices on legal practice and the situation of the Jewish community in Germany varies and falls short of expectations overall.
Practice shows that a major problem in the fight against anti-Semitism is not the lack of laws and state objectives, but the lack of law enforcement. It is therefore crucial that the laws are enforced, not only by the executive but also by the judiciary. For this reason, the office of the Federal Government Commissioner for Anti-Semitism should be replaced by that of the Bundestag Commissioner for Anti-Semitism, modelled on the Bundestag Commissioner for the Armed Forces and enshrined in the constitution, in order to be able to exert a comprehensive influence on the actual fight against anti-Semitism.
The fight against anti-Semitism should be included in the Basic Law as a task of the state and thus be given special protection. When combating anti-Semitism, it is particularly important to monitor and influence the application of the law. For this reason, the new office of the Bundestag Commissioner for Combating Anti-Semitism should be created at constitutional level. The office of the Bundestag Commissioner should replace the office of the Federal Government Commissioner for Combating Anti-Semitism. By being appointed by the Bundestag, the Commissioner gains greater democratic legitimisation and changes from an internal advisory and coordinating role in the government to that of parliamentary oversight of the executive. The office should be analogous to the function of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces under Article 45d of the Basic Law and the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces Act.
Read the entire analysis „Ein neuer Ansatz in der Antisemitismusbekämpfung“ here as a PDF. Please note, to date the analysis is only available in German.
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The series informs in a concentrated form about important positions of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung on current topics. The individual issues present key findings and recommendations, offer brief analyses, explain the Foundation's further plans and name KAS contact persons.
