2024-02-29 09:04:00
Justice angered Countries want to prevent cannabis legalization on April 1st
Feb 29, 2024, 10:04 a.m. Listen to article
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There are only five weeks between the adoption of the new cannabis law and its entry into force. Several federal states complain that this time is “not nearly” enough to examine the tens of thousands of cases in which penalties imposed are partially waived. They demand more time.
Several federal states want to prevent cannabis legalization from coming into force on April 1st and postpone it by six months. The North Rhine-Westphalia State Justice Minister Benjamin Lambach from the Greens told the digital media company Table.Media that the time of five weeks between the adoption and entry into force of the law was “not nearly sufficient” for the public prosecutor’s offices and courts in North Rhine-Westphalia to comply with the regulations to be able to implement the retroactive remission of punishment in a timely manner.
In North Rhine-Westphalia alone, “in tens of thousands of cases it has to be examined whether penalties imposed should be remitted in whole or in part,” explained Limbach. He pointed out this problem early on, but Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach did not hear of it.
Lower Saxony’s Justice Minister Kathrin Wahlmann from the SPD was also annoyed because the judiciary was overwhelmed by the planned amnesty in around 16,000 cases. “There will inevitably be unlawful conditions and compensation obligations all over the country,” Wahlmann told Table.Media.
“If the federal government allows the judicial authorities of the states to walk into such a situation with their eyes open, it shows a serious ignorance of the actual circumstances,” the minister continued. The minimum that the federal government must now agree to is a postponement of the entry into force by six months.
According to the report, a majority in the Federal Council, which will deal with the draft law at its next meeting on March 22nd, is in favor of appointing a mediation committee. In the coming days, the Federal Council committees will deal with the law, which is classified as an objection law.
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