Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has doubts about the constitutionality of an amendment to the code of criminal procedure that has yet to be passed by the grand coalition - and is therefore calling for a parliamentary review. The disputed new regulation enables suspects who have already been acquitted in criminal proceedings to be charged again in the case of particularly serious offenses if new evidence subsequently emerges in the matter. According to the President's Office on Wednesday, Steinmeier cited "considerable constitutional concerns" against this point.

Despite his concerns, Steinmeier had drawn up the law passed by the Bundestag and thus put it into force, as provided for in the Basic Law, said the Office of the Federal President.

In a letter to Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD), however, the doctor of law asked "to subject the law to another parliamentary examination and consultation".

Steinmeier's doubts are based on the principle enshrined in Article 103 of the Basic Law “ne bis in idem” (Latin for: not to be charged twice for the same offense).

Steinmeier wrote to Bas: "The regulation guarantees the already punished or legally acquitted offender protection against repeated persecution and punishment for the same offense."

Only in the case of particularly serious crimes

So far, an acquitted person could only be charged with the same offense again if it was found that false documents or intentionally false statements led to the acquittal.

The change in the law now makes it possible to restart the procedure even if the subsequently available evidence shows the high probability that the acquitted will be convicted.

However, this should only apply to particularly serious crimes: murder, genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes.

The Union parliamentary group rejected Steinmeier's constitutional concerns.

"The vast majority of the experts at the public hearing of the Legal Committee of the German Bundestag had expressly confirmed the constitutionality of the law," said their legal policy spokesman Günter Krings.

This view is shared by "almost all recent scientific papers".

"Late but overdue justice"

The deputy chairman of the Union parliamentary group, Andrea Lindholz, recalled that the SPD had supported the current law in the Groko and warned the traffic light government not to go back “behind this state of affairs that has now finally been achieved”. The new law clears the way for the possibility of allowing proceedings to be resumed "in special extreme cases". "For the relatives who had to live next to acquitted accused so far, although subsequent evidence clearly spoke in favor of their perpetration, this is a late, but overdue justice."

According to the Basic Law, it is incumbent on the Federal President to “draft” laws passed by parliament and thereby bring them into force.

Article 82 states: "The laws that have come into force in accordance with the provisions of this Basic Law will be drawn up by the Federal President after countersigning and promulgated in the Federal Law Gazette."

This article is interpreted by constitutional lawyers in such a way that the Federal President only has a formal, but not a substantive, right to review.

He can only object to laws if he has doubts about their constitutionality - but not if their content is politically displeasing to him.