Intelligence reform: coalition admits ‘uncharted territory’, Greens warn of court

Germany's governing coalition is increasingly acknowledging the legal risks of its sweeping overhaul of the intelligence services. “It is clear that with this major reform we are entering uncharted territory,” Marc Henrichmann (CDU), chair of the Parliamentary Control Panel, told the Rheinische Post. A sharper threat situation makes the update necessary, he said, with a possible challenge at the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe being taken into account. The court has set a year-end deadline to revise the legal basis of the BND foreign intelligence service.

SPD parliamentary deputy leader Sonja Eichwede spoke of “constitutional uncharted territory” and said the package must allow “very thorough oversight of the intelligence services.” There must be no parallel structure between the domestic intelligence agency and the police, she said. Green interior policy spokesman Konstantin von Notz said Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt's (CSU) plans for the domestic intelligence agency were, in their current form, incompatible with the rule of law, and called for a fundamental rewrite to avoid defeat in Karlsruhe.

Legal scholars are also divided. Matthias Bäcker of the University of Mainz criticised plans to let the domestic agency conduct covert operations inside Germany: “Secret interference with property or freedom of action is something constitutional states should not do.” Jan-Hendrik Dietrich of the Federal University of Administrative Sciences disagreed: “Anyone who looks more closely sees that the scope of application is very small.” He also called for stronger independent oversight of the agencies.