Christine Lambrecht

Christine Lambrecht (born 19 June 1965) is a German lawyer and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel since 2019.[1] She previously served as one of two Parliamentary State Secretaries at the Federal Ministry of Finance from 2018 until 2019.[2] Prior to that, she held various roles within the SPD parliamentary group, including as a deputy leader and Chief Whip.

Christine Lambrecht
Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection
Assumed office
27 June 2019
ChancellorAngela Merkel
Preceded byKatarina Barley
Parliamentary State Secretary for Finance
In office
14 March 2018 – 27 June 2019
Serving with Bettina Hagedorn
ChancellorAngela Merkel
MinisterOlaf Scholz
Preceded byJens Spahn
Succeeded byVacant
Chief Whip of the Social Democratic Party in the Bundestag
In office
16 September 2013 – 27 September 2017
LeaderThomas Oppermann
Preceded byThomas Oppermann
Succeeded byCarsten Schneider
Member of the Bundestag
for Hesse
Assumed office
22 September 2002
ConstituencyHessian SPD List
Member of the Bundestag
for Bergstraße
In office
27 September 1998 – 22 September 2002
Preceded byMichael Meister
Succeeded byMichael Meister
Personal details
Born (1965-06-19) 19 June 1965
Mannheim, West Germany (now Germany)
Political partySocial Democratic Party
Alma materUniversity of Mannheim
University of Mainz

Education and early career

Lambrecht attended the Albertus-Magnus-Gymnasium in Viernheim, in the German state of Hessen and in 1984 she passed her Abitur. After this she studied law at the Universities of Mannheim and Mainz, where she graduated in 1992 and completed an internship at State Court in Darmstadt.[3]

Political career

Career in local politics

Lambrecht joined the SPD in 1982 and was a member of the Viernheim City Council from 1985 till 2001, of which she was the chair in the years 1997 till 2001. Additionally she was a member of the Bergstraße County Council from 1989 until 1997.

Member of the German Parliament, 1998–present

Lambrecht has been a Member of the Bundestag since the 1998 elections. From 1998 until 2002 she was the member for Bergstraße, however, she lost against her CDU challenger in the 2002 federal election and has subsequently always been elected via the SPD Hessian state list. In parliament, she has served on the Committee on Legal Affairs, the Committee on Sports and on the Council of Elders, which sets the agenda for the parliamentary sessions. Lambrecht is seen as being on the left wing of the SPD parliamentary group.[4]

From 2002 until 2005 and from 2013 until 2017, Lambrecht served on the parliamentary body in charge of appointing judges to the Highest Courts of Justice, namely the Federal Court of Justice (BGH), the Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG), the Federal Fiscal Court (BFH), the Federal Labour Court (BAG), and the Federal Social Court (BSG).

Following the 2009 elections, Lambrecht became her parliamentary group's spokesperson on legal affairs. In 2011, she was elected as a deputy leader of the SPD parliamentary group, under the leadership of chairman Frank-Walter Steinmeier. She was a deputy leader of the group till her election as Chief Whip of the SPD Parliamentary Group after the 2013 federal election. In the ensuing negotiations to form a third coalition government under Chancellor Angela Merkel, she was part of the SPD delegation in the working group on internal and legal affairs, led by Hans-Peter Friedrich and Thomas Oppermann.

In the negotiations to form Merkel’s fourth coalition government following the 2017 federal elections, Lambrecht was part of the working group on financial policies and taxes, led by Peter Altmaier, Andreas Scheuer and Olaf Scholz. In Merkel's fourth cabinet, she joined the federal government as one of two Parliamentary State Secretaries serving under Finance Minister Olaf Scholz.

Federal Minister of Justice, 2019–present

On 19 June 2019 it was announced that Lambrecht would succeed justice minister Katarina Barley on the 1 July 2019, after the latter moved to Brussels to serve in the European Parliament.[5]

During Lambrecht's time in office, German authorities fined Facebook 2 million euros for under-reporting complaints about illegal content on its social media platform in breach of the country’s law on internet transparency.[6] In December 2019, she proposed a law requiring internet service providers like Gmail or WhatsApp to handover personal data including passwords upon request.[7]

In September 2020, Lambrecht announced that she would not stand in the 2021 federal elections but instead resign from active politics by the end of the parliamentary term.[8]

Other activities
  • Academy of European Law (ERA), Ex-Officio Member of the Governing Board (since 2019)[9]
  • German Forum for Crime Prevention (DFK), Ex-Officio Chair of the Board of Trustees (since 2019)[10]
  • Magnus Hirschfeld Foundation, Ex-Officio Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees (since 2019)[11]
  • Humboldt Forum, Ex-Officio Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2018)
  • GIZ, Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2018)[12]
  • Jewish Museum Berlin, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2018)[13]

Personal life

Lambrecht has one son.

References
  1. Babayiğit, Gökalp; Berlin, Mike Szymanski (2019-06-19). "Christine Lambrecht soll Justizministerin werden". sueddeutsche.de (in German). ISSN 0174-4917. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  2. "Christine Lambrecht, MdB - Bundesfinanzministerium - Ministerium". Bundesministerium der Finanzen (in German). Archived from the original on 2019-04-26. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  3. "Deutscher Bundestag - Christine Lambrecht". Deutscher Bundestag (in German). Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  4. "Parlamentarische Linke - Unsere Mitglieder". Parlamentarische Linke (in German). Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  5. Babayiğit, Gökalp; Berlin, Mike Szymanski (2019-06-19). "Christine Lambrecht soll Justizministerin werden". sueddeutsche.de (in German). ISSN 0174-4917. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  6. Thomas Escritt (July 2, 2019), Germany fines Facebook for under-reporting complaints Reuters.
  7. online, heise. "Justizministerium: WhatsApp, Gmail & Co. sollen Passwörter herausgeben müssen". heise online (in German). Retrieved 2020-03-01.
  8. Bundesjustizministerin Christine Lambrecht (SPD) tritt nicht mehr an Mannheimer Morgen, September 5, 2020.
  9. Governing Board Academy of European Law (ERA).
  10. Board of Trustees German Forum for Crime Prevention (DFK).
  11. Board of Trustees Magnus Hirschfeld Foundation.
  12. Members of the Supervisory Board GIZ.
  13. Board of Trustees Jewish Museum Berlin.
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