Three Eastern German states want to tighten the Self-Determination Act

The debate has been triggered, among other things, by the case of Marla Svenja Liebich, who was sentenced in July 2023 to a total prison sentence of one year and six months without probation for incitement to hatred, defamation, and insult. After her conviction, she changed her legal gender from male to female and her first name from Sven to Marla Svenja. Critics viewed this step as an obvious abuse of the Self-Determination Act.

Background: The Liebich Case

Liebich was subsequently summoned to begin her sentence at the women's prison in Chemnitz but did not appear. She was arrested at the border between the Czech Republic and Germany and has since been in Czech pre-trial detention. The Pilsen Regional Court ordered her extradition to Germany on Monday. Liebich can still appeal against the extradition order.

Federal Minister of the Interior Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) had previously spoken out in favor of a legal reform in connection with the case. The three East German states also see an urgent need for action. They are calling on the federal government to promptly initiate a reform that creates a legally secure review mechanism for all cases of obvious abuse.

Specifically, the states propose to legally clarify the objective conditions under which civil registry offices can act in cases of obvious abuse. Concrete review mechanisms, standardized clearing or referral procedures, and clear legal guardrails for the responsible authorities are planned. This is intended to ensure at the same time that legitimate applications can continue to be processed quickly.

The Proposals in Detail

The Saxon Minister of Justice, Constanze Geiert (CDU), explained the direction of the initiative in clear terms: "Only objective and documentable circumstances that indicate a misuse or abusive use of the procedure should be reviewable." Geiert warned that every case of abuse endangers the goal of the law, which is to realize the right of affected individuals to respectful treatment regarding their gender identity.

Geiert Warns of Danger to the Law

With this initiative, the three states are entering new political territory. Until now, it was primarily the Union-led federal government that had pushed for a tightening of the law. The fact that three East German states, with varying government constellations, are now acting together is considered a signal to the federal government. Observers also interpret the move as an attempt to depoliticize the debate about the Self-Determination Act with concrete legal policy proposals.

Regardless of the extradition proceedings in Pilsen, the initiative is likely to be met with an open ear in Berlin. The federal government had announced an evaluation of the SBGG in its coalition agreement. The Conference of Justice Ministers in Hamburg now offers the states the opportunity to discuss their proposals in a nationwide body. If a majority emerges there, the reform could be tackled in the current legislative period.

It remains to be seen for now how associations of trans and intersex people will react to the proposal. Affected organizations had celebrated the Self-Determination Act as a historic step forward in 2024 and have since warned against its erosion through overly far-reaching interventions. However, the initiative of the Eastern states emphasizes that the rights of those affected should be explicitly preserved.