State Office for the Protection of the Constitution of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg

The State Office for the Protection of the Constitution of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg ( LfV ) is the state authority for the protection of the constitution in the state of Hamburg . The main tasks of the state authority include the observation of right-wing extremism , left-wing extremism , foreign extremism , fundamentalism of all forms, counter-espionage and observing the Scientology organization.

legality

The State Office for the Protection of the Constitution of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg works with its employees on the basis of the Hamburg Constitutional Protection Act (HmbVerfSchG) and the Federal Constitutional Protection Act . The cooperation takes place with the other state authorities for the protection of the constitution . By the legislation of the Federal Constitutional Protection Act remains Notice of citizen preserved and is up to the principle of proportionality . The checks of people are only permitted on a legal basis. The requirement for a review is based on the guidelines of the Hamburg Security Review Act .

tasks

As a domestic intelligence service , the main task of the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg is primarily to protect the free democratic basic order . The security also serves the federal and state governments . In order to take this protection and security into account, the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution collects information from open and / or intelligence services about efforts that have decided against the legal interest . In order to do justice to the tasks, paragraph § 4 is applied.

The filtered findings on extremism are exemplarily transmitted to the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg in the annual report for the protection of the constitution , in order to be informed about the corresponding dangers that are caused by extremism and then to be legally prepared. These findings are made available to the general public, to each individual citizen, on the website of the State Office. This extremism presents itself predominantly as right-wing extremism , left-wing extremism , alien extremism , fundamentalism . The focus is also on espionage and sabotage .

control

The work of the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg is subject to the continuous control of the “Parliamentary Control Committee” of the Hamburg citizenship . The G 10 Commission of the Citizenship decides on the admissibility and necessity of measures to restrict the secrecy of letters , mail and telecommunications . The Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information also has extensive control powers. As with all other authorities, the administrative actions of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution can in principle be checked by a court.

household

After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 , the number of employees at the State Office was increased annually; for 2008, the number of employees was 148. The workforce is regulated by a position plan . The required financial resources also increased annually and were given for the year 2008 with a total of 11,589,000 €. The agency's intelligence information system has 31,124 stored persons for the year 2008. In naturalizations in 2008 cases total raised by the state authority concerns at ten. During the residence procedure , 21 were examined in the same year. On the basis of the Schengen Agreement , 14 cases were assessed as questionable in 2008 in the corresponding visa procedures . Committed to averting sabotage , the state authority subjected 9,115 people to an air security check at Hamburg Airport in 2008 . Checks were also carried out at the port of Hamburg . The 2008 Harbor Security Act was applied to 59 people.

structure

In order to optimally cover all areas of responsibility, the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg is divided into departments . The hierarchy is formed by an office manager . This is followed then the departments 1 to 3. These are in turn in papers divided.

Departments and units

• Head of Office: Torsten Voss
  • Department V1: Central tasks
    • Unit V11: Administration
    • Unit V12: Central IT and G10
    • Unit V13: Operative Technology
  • Department V2: Evaluation
    • Section V201: Principle, duties of participation
    • Unit V21: Islamism
    • Unit V22: Right-Wing Extremism, Scientology
    • Unit V23: Left-wing extremism, extremism with a relation to foreigners
  • Department V3: Counter-espionage, Security, Law
    • Unit V31: Security
    • Unit V32: Counter-espionage and economic protection
  • Department V4: Intelligence information gathering
    • Unit V41: Observation, conspiratorial investigation
    • Unit V42: Research, Promotion and Survey
    • Section V43: VP leadership

management

Period	Surname
1969-1981	Hans Josef Horchem (SPD)
1981-1991	Christian Lochte (CDU)
1991-1996	Ernst Uhrlau (SPD)
1996-2002	Reinhard Wagner (CDU)
2002-2010	Heino Vahldieck (CDU)
2011-2014	Manfred Murck
since 2014	Torsten Voss (CDU)

Web links

• Website (german)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ New head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (report by the Department of Home Affairs and Sport from August 7, 2014)
2. ↑ Hamburger Abendblatt of August 21, 2014: The career of Torsten Voss