Shortage of lawyers in MV: Law exams also in Rostock in the future?

As of: October 16, 2024 3:24 p.m

In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania you can only study law for the state examination at one university – Greifswald. At the same time, there is a risk of a massive shortage of personnel in the judiciary, which will be further exacerbated by the coming wave of retirements.

von Valeria Dobralskaya

Imagine that you want to fight for your rights and go to court, but: First you can’t find a lawyer to represent you, and then your proceedings drag on for years, if not decades, because there are no female judges. The residents of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania will find themselves in this situation more and more often in the future, because the shortage of lawyers is becoming increasingly serious. In the next ten years, 282 judges will retire from public service due to age. The state Ministry of Justice said that around 600 lawyers will reach retirement age during this time. The number of lawyers in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania will then have been halved compared to today.

Greens: Lack of reaction to the shortage of lawyers in MV

Constanze Oehlerich believes that legal seekers in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania will find it increasingly difficult to obtain legal advice.

Constanze Oehlrich, member of the Legal Affairs Committee and chairwoman of the Green parliamentary group in the state parliament, accuses the Ministry of Justice of not having responded appropriately and, above all, not in a timely manner to the shortage of lawyers: “It’s not something that comes suddenly. Demographic change has been happening for a long time Years ago, almost half of the female judges will retire within the next ten years. But what is dramatic is that it will look the same at law firms,” said Oehlrich.

Return of law studies in Rostock discussed

In this context, the proposal to revitalize the law faculty in Rostock as a training location for fully qualified lawyers is repeatedly discussed. You can currently study good governance in Rostock – a mixture of law, economics, politics and philosophy. The graduates acquire the Master of Laws degree. But this does not entitle you to be admitted to the legal traineeship, which in turn is a prerequisite for working as a judge, public prosecutor or lawyer. Until 2008, you could complete a law degree at the University of Rostock, which culminated in a state examination. However, the course was then discontinued for cost reasons.

Stamer explains decision on university structure

Dirk Stamer, higher education policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, explains the decision made at the time: In 2008, the budget situation was just as tight as it is today, so they looked at how the state’s universities could be structured more efficiently and abolish duplicate structures. As a result, it was decided that the University of Rostock would take over the training of teachers and the University of Greifswald that of lawyers. This means that both universities would not have to offer both courses in full. “And the situation we have today with the current budget situation is the same,” says Stamer to NDR MV.

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That’s why we have to look at how to use the available resources efficiently. In his view, the existing structures must be exhausted before a new full faculty is established. Specifically, this means: “The University of Greifswald must be trained to produce more graduates. In addition, we must make the legal traineeship in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania more attractive. And then ensure that as many of these lawyers as possible stay here and do not leave the country in favor of other federal states,” said Stamer.

Moving to Greifswald is often problematic for students

The state government’s plan was for successful graduates of the Good Governance course to come to Greifswald and continue their studies there until they take the state examination. However, this number is very low every semester, said the dean’s office of the law faculty in Greifswald.

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For Jette Beck, who is studying good governance in the fifth semester and would like to take the state exam, the University of Greifswald is not on the short list. Although she definitely wants to stay in the north, she is considering the universities of Kiel and Lüneburg. One crucial reason: word has gotten around among students that more achievements from the good governance studies in Rostock are credited than in Greifswald. And if there was a state exam in law in Rostock, she would stay here, says Jette Beck. Another student reports that she does not want to move to “the smaller and more provincial city of Greifswald” for further studies. Then it’s better to go straight to Berlin.

Law exams in Rostock within two years

By the way, contrary to the agreement made in 2008, you can study teaching at the University of Greifswald again. The shortage of teachers was so urgent that the state government considered this step inevitable.

Jörg Benedict, the dean of the law faculty in Rostock, is convinced that it would be possible to “saddle up” to the good governance course with little effort so that good graduates can take the exam and stay in the country. “What our graduates are missing isn’t much. It’s two or three semesters with some criminal law content and a little more preparation for the exam. If there was political will, we could have the first graduates within two years have who are taking the exam.”

This would require the establishment of four or five new chairs and the resources to maintain them permanently. Jörg Benedict estimates the costs to be around two million euros per year. “The money that would have to be invested in this would be well invested in the rule of law.”

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