Future civil servants in Brandenburg will be tested for their loyalty to the constitution. This is provided for in a draft law passed by the state parliament on 3 May 2024. This makes Brandenburg the first federal state to introduce a regular enquiry with the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in order to prevent anti-constitutional applicants from being granted access to public office without being recognised. The check should only ever take place after a successful selection procedure as the last step before appointment.

The state parliament also decided on 3 May 2024 to abolish disciplinary action. Brandenburg is thus taking over the Amendment to federal disciplinary law now also applies to state civil servants. In future, the employer - the state, the district or the cities and municipalities - can and must remove a civil servant from office without having to file a complaint with the administrative court. The civil servant concerned must then decide for themselves whether they wish to appeal this decision to the administrative court.

This is not only a right, but also a duty: in future, it will be the employers and no longer the administrative courts who will decide which offences will result in removal from office. Employers will therefore have a comprehensive responsibility for punishing misconduct - which they alone will have to fulfil.

The contact persons for public service law in our practice are the lawyers Prof Dr Klaus Herrmann, Dr Stephan Berndt and lawyers Kristina Dörnenburg and Kristina Gottschalk, LL.M.oec