German 'lawfare': When lawsuits become a political weapon

In Germany, political lawyers are increasingly leveraging lawsuits as a means of gaining political advantage. The recent case involving the Left Party and Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt is a prime example. Dobrindt's comment about Elif Eralp, the Left Party's Berlin mayoral candidate, being an antisemite sparked a lawsuit from the Left Party's lawyers.

They argue that Dobrindt's remark defamed Eralp, harmed her political standing, and hindered her chances of forming a government. This is not the first time the Left Party has resorted to lawsuits after its election victory. The party has faced accusations of antisemitism from the center-right, particularly following a rapper chanting "Death to the IDF" during an election campaign event in Berlin.

The lawsuit has become a common tool in German politics, often employing sections of the German Criminal Code related to insults, defamation, and intentional defamation. In 2025, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) filed defamation charges against Chancellor Friedrich Merz for calling their policy of remigration "ethnic cleansing."

The Green Party in Berlin also brought hate speech charges against Merz last year for describing the presence of immigrants as "this problem in the cityscape." In another instance, the Green Party's Robert Habeck was sued by the Alliance for Social Justice and Economic Reason (BSW) for accusing the new upstart party of "buying votes" on the internet with "troll armies."

However, prosecutors often dismiss these cases due to a lack of sufficient grounds for suspicion. Media lawyer Christian Solmecke of WBS Legal states that the boundaries of permissible speech are more lenient in the political sphere than in private. He emphasizes that politicians should be prepared for sharp, polemical, exaggerated, and hurtful criticism.

However, the increasing use of lawsuits as a political weapon raises concerns about the misuse of law enforcement agencies as political instruments.