Headlines
German parliament appoints three new judges to Constitutional Court
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on September 25, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on September 25, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Germany's parliament appointed three judges to the Constitutional Court, resolving a coalition crisis. The appointments required a two-thirds majority.
BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany's parliament on Thursday voted to appoint three new judges to the Constitutional Court, avoiding a repeat of the summer's coalition crisis.
The appointments confirmed two judges first nominated to the court in June and a third new nominee after the government failed to win approval for a prior candidate in June, sparking the crisis.
WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
Conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz's coalition was thrown into uncertainty by the June failure to win parliamentary approval of a centre-left judge nominee after a right-wing media campaign against her.
In June, the Social Democrats' previous nominee Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf, a law professor, was rejected after a sustained media campaign that falsely depicted her views on pregnancy termination as far from the legal mainstream.
The failure to secure the appointment of a nominee approved by the leadership of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservatives threw into question the sustainability of his coalition with the Social Democrats, which holds only a slim parliamentary majority.
CONTEXT
Based in Karlsruhe by the French border, the Constitutional Court is among the world's most powerful apex courts. Its rulings have in the past torpedoed budgets and European Union bailout packages, precipitating the fall of governments.
Judge appointments require a majority of two-thirds of all votes cast in parliament as well an absolute majority of all members of parliament.
Because all parties refuse to work with the far-right Alternative for Germany, the second-largest party in parliament, reaching the two-thirds majority required to amend the constitution or appoint judges needs the support of all other parties, including the opposition Greens and Left parties.
WHAT'S NEXT
Thursday's successful vote will reassure critics and investors unnerved by the conservative-Social Democrat coalition's failure on two previous occasions to win key parliamentary votes.
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke, Thomas Escritt and Christoph Steitz)
Germany's parliament voted to appoint three new judges to the Constitutional Court, successfully avoiding a repeat of the coalition crisis from the summer.
The appointments confirmed two judges nominated in June and a third new nominee after a prior candidate was rejected, leading to a coalition crisis.
The coalition faced uncertainty after failing to secure approval for a centre-left judge nominee, which raised questions about its sustainability.
The Constitutional Court, based in Karlsruhe, is one of the world's most powerful apex courts, with the ability to impact budgets and EU bailout packages through its rulings.
Judge appointments require a two-thirds majority of all votes cast in parliament, as well as an absolute majority of all members of parliament.
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