The German justice system is grappling with an unprecedented efficiency crisis. According to the latest report from the German Judges' Association, the number of open criminal proceedings has for the first time in history exceeded the threshold of one million cases. The overload of prosecutors' offices and courts is leading to dramatic consequences, including the necessity to release from custody individuals suspected of the most serious crimes due to exceeding statutory trial deadlines.
The German justice system is in a state of deep structural crisis. Data presented by the German Judges' Association (DRB) shows that at the end of 2025, the number of pending criminal proceedings reached a record 1.15 million. This is an increase of nearly 50 percent compared to 2020, when about 700,000 cases were ongoing. The situation is alarming, as prosecutors' offices have for three years systematically recorded an influx of over 5.5 million new cases annually, which is not accompanied by an adequate increase in employment in the judiciary sector. The German legal system is based on the principle of legality, which obliges the public prosecutor's office to prosecute every crime of which it becomes aware. In contrast to Anglo-Saxon systems, the possibilities for selecting cases on grounds of expediency are much more limited in Germany, which, given staffing shortages, exacerbates the phenomenon of court backlogs. The effects of the paralysis directly impact public safety. Staff overload forces courts to lift <przypis title=