He probably wouldn’t need to move: The Union has reportedly proposed Federal Attorney General Peter Frank as the new constitutional judge. But the last word has not yet been spoken.
According to dpa information, Federal Prosecutor General Peter Frank (55) is to move to the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe as Peter Müller’s successor. The German Press Agency learned on Thursday that the CSU and CDU had agreed on this. The SPD-led federal states are still discussing the personnel. The Federal Council would have to confirm the candidate with a two-thirds majority. The next meeting is on Friday, after which the state chamber will not meet again until mid-December.
The CSU has the right to make proposals because of an agreement between government and opposition parties. Previously, the former Bavarian Justice Minister Winfried Bausback (CSU) had been traded for a long time. According to reports, one of the things that spoke against him was possible bias because of his CSU party register in the upcoming lawsuit against the federal election law at the Constitutional Court.
Frank has been Federal Prosecutor General at the Federal Court of Justice since October 5, 2015 and thus head of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office. At 47, he was the youngest Federal Prosecutor General when he took office.
The Karlsruhe authority with around 300 employees reports to the Federal Ministry of Justice as the federal public prosecutor’s office. She is responsible for outstanding proceedings in areas such as terrorism, espionage and international criminal law.
No scandals
Public statements from Frank are few and far between. Every now and then the chief prosecutor gives interviews. He worked on better cooperation between investigative authorities. Blatant: none.
A focus of his work is the fight against terrorism. Recently, the number of investigations into this matter has increased significantly. Between the beginning of January and the end of September, 356 investigations relating to Islamist terrorism were initiated, according to a response from the federal government to a request from the Left Party.
The “Reichsbürger” scene is also becoming increasingly important. A good year ago, Frank announced that he wanted to take on more cases from this spectrum. The raid on Thursday was the responsibility of the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Frank, who was born in Lauda (today: Lauda-Königshofen) in Baden-Württemberg, had replaced Harald Range, whom Federal Justice Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) had dismissed due to significant differences in connection with investigations into treason against the bloggers from “Netzpolitik.org”. Frank was not only an excellent lawyer, but also a committed civil servant with sensitivity and leadership, Maas said at the time.
Exams with top grades
Frank is considered experienced, resilient, sociable and easy-going. It was Bausback, of all people, who, as the then Bavarian Minister of Justice, once praised Frank’s legal expertise, leadership skills, ability to deal with people and political flair.
Frank studied law in Würzburg and Munich, passed both state law exams with top marks and received his doctorate in criminal law procedure (“summa cum laude”). He then worked as a public prosecutor in Munich and later for the Bavarian Ministry of Justice. At times Frank was seconded to the Free State representation at the federal level. Intermediate positions took him as a judge at the Munich I Regional Court and the Munich Higher Regional Court. In March 2015 – just a few months before moving to Karlsruhe – Frank became Attorney General in Munich. A picture book career.
Now perhaps the move to the highest German court – a good one and a half kilometers away as the crow flies. Frank would follow the former Saarland CDU Prime Minister Müller, who is responsible for, among other things, electoral and party law in the Second Senate. The 68-year-old’s term of office expired in September. He will continue to work until the successor is settled. He was last seen in his role recently when the budget verdict was announced.
