Volkmar Schöneburg

Volkmar Schöneburg (born June 30, 1958 in Potsdam ) is a German politician ( Die Linke ) and lawyer . From 2009 until his resignation in 2013, he was Minister of Justice of the State of Brandenburg . Between 2014 and 2019 he was a member of the Brandenburg state parliament .

Life

After graduating from high school in 1977, Schöneburg did his military service until 1980. He then began studying law at the Humboldt University in Berlin , graduating in 1984 with a degree in law. There he was employed as a research student. On 14 December 1987 Beautiful castle was the work detective Scientific heritage of the Communist Party from 1919 to 1933 to the Dr. jur. PhD. In the same year Schöneburg moved to the "Central Institute for Philosophy" of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR . In 1991 Schöneburg returned to the Humboldt University and was later a research assistant at Detlef Krauss's chair in criminal law . In 1996 he was admitted to the bar. Since 2002 he worked as a lawyer in Potsdam. Among other things, he worked as a defender in the trial of the murder of Marinus Schöberl .

On September 14, 2006, Schöneburg was elected constitutional judge of the state of Brandenburg as the successor to Rosemarie Will on the proposal of the Linkspartei.PDS .

After being appointed Justice Minister in 2009, Schöneburg resigned from his post as constitutional judge.

politics

Schöneburg belonged to the SED and later to the PDS, which was absorbed into the Die Linke party. In the Left Party he was chairman of the Federal Arbitration Commission as well as a member of the Historical Commission and is a member of the History Commission of the Berlin State Association. He is also a member of the board of trustees of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation Brandenburg.

On November 6, 2009, Schöneburg was appointed Minister of Justice of the State of Brandenburg. Since 1967 he has been the first member of the former SED in such an office in Germany. His appointment to the government of the SPD and Die Linke ( Platzeck III cabinet ) was preceded by disputes over his person. In 2009 the daily newspaper Die Welt accused him of playing down the GDR dictatorship. Schöneburg was accused of failing to classify the GDR as an " unjust state " in an article for the specialist magazine Welttrends 2002 and of playing down the fatal shots at the wall. He denied this accusation, but admitted a “certain polemic” in his formulations at the time. The legal historian Uwe Wesel spoke of a “very intelligent essay” in this context; With a view to the GDR, Schöneburg rightly criticizes the term “unjust state” and in no way legitimizes the shots at the wall. The outgoing Brandenburg Interior Minister Jörg Schönbohm (CDU) called Schöneburg's name a "slap in the face of the victims of the GDR". Criticism was expressed not only by the CDU , FDP , Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen and victims' associations, but also from the ranks of the SPD and the Brandenburg Public Prosecutor Erardo Rautenberg . The left rejected the allegations as a "dirty campaign".

Resignation from the ministerial office

In December 2013 it became known that Schöneburg had received regular calls from a former client, a prisoner in the Brandenburg ad Havel correctional facility , on his private cell phone. He was imprisoned there for murder, rape and child abuse and was to be transferred to the Cottbus-Dissenchen correctional facility in order to separate him from his accomplice, with whom he was a partner. This should prevent the couple's criminal activities in the prison. Schöneburg prevented this planned relocation. When it became known, the opposition accused him of abuse of office. Schöneburg stated that he had never spoken to the prisoner himself, but that he only spoke on his mailbox and that he knew his cell phone number from earlier times when he was his defense lawyer. He never favored the prisoner. Schöneburg went on to explain: “What I have to reproach myself for is that the number of my private cell phone was not blocked so that prisoners could reach me. And that I made the decision [about the planned transfer of the prisoner] myself ”. Following demands from the opposition, Schöneburg resigned as Minister of Justice on the evening of December 14, 2013 . His successor on January 21, 2014 was the previous Minister of Finance, Helmuth Markov .

Member of the state parliament

Since October 8, 2014 Schöneburg was a member of the 6th State Parliament of Brandenburg. In the state elections on September 14, 2014 , he was elected from fourth place on the state list of his party Die Linke. He was a member of the state parliament for Fürstenwalde / Spree , where his citizens' office is also located. Schöneburg was the spokesman for media policy in his parliamentary group and was a member of the Broadcasting Council of Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg for the 2015 to 2019 term of office .

Research priorities

Schöneburg is the author of numerous legal and Marxist publications. He mainly deals with legal theory, legal history and criminal science issues.

Schöneburg claims that the principles of the rule of law were undermined in the wall rifle trials. In these proceedings, the public prosecutor's office showed “far too much zeal for prosecution”. According to Schöneburg's view, a criminal conviction was only possible in the case of excesses (for example because of the shooting down of a refugee who had already surrendered) because of the killings at the border, because the "illegal border crossing" was punishable in the GDR.

Furthermore, Schöneburg takes a critical stance in his writings on the criminal law history of the GDR and on coming to terms with the SED injustice. In his view, the term “ unjust state ” used for the GDR only serves to equate the GDR with the “ Third Reich ”. The term injustice state is an "unscientific, moralizing word of repression" and a "vulgar apostrophication". In the course of coming to terms with the injustice committed in the GDR, the "conservative power structures of the FRG", which had to be changed, were withdrawn from criticism that the Federal Republic had been tailored to a "sunshine version". In the dispute over the history of criminal law in the GDR, he also points out that there have been more preliminary investigations against “constitutional enemies” in the Federal Republic than in the GDR, but there, on the other hand, more convictions and higher penalties.

In the area of ​​criminal law, Schöneburg opposes the possibility of subsequent preventive detention for sex offenders, as it breaks the principle of guilt . Instead, he calls for more therapy during detention and better aftercare concepts for the perpetrators.

Schöneburg a. a. In 1999 the insider committee for the critical appropriation of the history of the MfS , a network of former Stasi cadres, in whose magazine Schöneburg also published.

Private

Schöneburg is the son of the GDR constitutional lawyer and former Brandenburg constitutional judge Karl-Heinz Schöneburg (1928–2013) and father of the judoka who fights in the Bundesliga , Karl Schöneburg (* 1987), whom he raised alone. Schöneburg is divorced.

He is a member of the Leibniz Society . Vice-President since 2009, and in 2013 he became President of the Brandenburgischer Judo-Verband e. V.

Volkmar Schöneburg is Vice President of the German Judo Federation DJB . He was chairman of the University Judo and Martial Arts Club in Potsdam.

Publications (selection)

• Proletarian legacy in law: Felix Halle . In: Neue Justiz , 1984, p. 179.
• KPD and Soviet criminal sciences 1919 to 1932 . In: Staat und Recht , issue 10/1987, p. 852 ff.
• The KPD's forensic legacy: 1919 to 1933. Staatsverlag der DDR, Berlin (GDR), 1989.
• Law from “below” - on the 60th anniversary of the founding of the International Legal Association . In: Neue Justiz , 1989, p. 489.
• Socialism and criminal law - visions, demands and experiences from 40 years of the GDR . In: contradictions - journal for socialist politics , issue 36, 1990.
• Philosophy of Law and the Law of Philosophy: Festschrift for Hermann Klenner . Peter Lang, Frankfurt a. M. etc. 1992 (as editor).
• Law in the Nazi-fascist and "real socialist" state - discontinuities and continuities . In: New Justice , 1992.
• SED and criminal law - theses . In: Gregor Gysi u. a. (Ed.): Divided into two parts - On dealing with the SED past . VSA, Hamburg 1992.
• Human rights, criminal law and the labor movement - some theoretical and historical aspects . In: contradictions - journal for socialist politics issue 46, 1993.
• Cold War and Criminal Law Policy in the GDR. Keip & von Delft, Stockstadt 1996.
• The unjust state of the GDR? In: Lothar Bisky u. a. (Ed.): The PDS - origin and self-image . Karl Dietz Verlag, Berlin 1996, p. 334.
• Gustav Radbruch , Complete Edition, Volume 19: The Reichstag Speeches . CF Müller, Heidelberg 1998 (as a belt processor).
• Nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege - legal history notes . In: Utopie Kreativ , Issue 94, 1998, p. 60.
• The nature of law - Hermann Klenner's 75th birthday . In: Utopie Kreativ , Heft 123, 2001, p. 17.
• Criticizing, overcoming and defending - cornerstones of a left-wing criminal policy . In: Utopie Kreativ , Heft 134, 2001, p. 1082.
• Popular sovereignty and the Federal Constitutional Court . In: Utopie Kreativ , Heft 139, 2002, p. 418.
• Criminal Law and State Socialism (Text No. 52 of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation). Karl Dietz Verlag, Berlin 2009.
• Karl Liebknecht and the penal system . In: Yearbook for Research on the History of the Labor Movement , Issue II / 2013.
• The democratic and social constitutional state - claim and reality , in: Axel Weipert (ed.): Democratization of economy and state - studies on the relationship between economy, state and democracy from the 19th century to today , NoRa Verlag, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978- 3-86557-331-5 .
• Legal Policy and Human Dignity. Speeches, essays and interviews on history, the constitution and the penal system , WeltTrends, Potsdam 2014.

literature

• Schöneburg, Volkmar; Dr. [Berlin] . In: Dirk Breithaupt: Legal Biography GDR . Dissertation, Kiel 1993, p. 467

Web links

• Curriculum vitae Volkmar Schöneburg ( memento from March 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Ministry of Justice Brandenburg.
• Biography page for the 7th electoral term in the Brandenburg state parliament
• Volkmar Schöneburg in the parliamentary group Die Linke in the Brandenburg state parliament
• Volkmar Schöneburg in the parliamentary documentation of the Landtag Brandenburg

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Decreased intelligent . In: Berliner Zeitung , September 5, 2003
2. ↑ Resolution minutes of the Brandenburg State Parliament 4/36, agenda item 10 (PDF; 11 kB); Werner: Landes- und Kommunalverwaltung , 2007, p. 165.
3. ↑ New members in the rbb-Rundfunkrat ( de ) February 26, 2015. Accessed on October 31, 2015.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ^ Result of the election to the Federal Arbitration Commission of the Left Party.PDS at the 1st session of the 8th party congress on 12/13 December 2002 in Gera. ( Memento of the original from October 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ Decision of the party executive committee of July 2, 2001. ( Memento of the original of May 31, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ↑ Press release THE LINKE.Berlin on 6 May, 2008.
7. ↑ Committees . Rosa Luxemburg Foundation Brandenburg. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
8. ↑ Swearing in of the members of the state government. (PDF; 65 kB) In: Plenary minutes 5/2. Landtag Brandenburg, November 6, 2009, p. 29 , accessed on May 21, 2016 . 
9. ^ See list of GDR justice ministers.
10. ↑ Die Welt, October 30, 2009 ; The daily mirror of November 1, 2009.
11. ^ The daily newspaper: SPD accepts left justice minister . November 2, 2009. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
12. ↑ And this left-wing politician makes Platzeck Minister of Justice . In: BZ , November 2, 2009.
13. ↑ Spiegel online from October 30, 2010
14. ^ Ddp announcement of October 29, 2009.
15. ^ Volkmar Schöneburg, SPD, Matthias Platzeck. In: Der Tagesspiegel , November 2, 2010.
16. ^ Rautenberg . In: Der Tagesspiegel , November 2, 2009
17. ↑ Left condemns the dirty campaign against Schöneburg . In: Die Welt , November 3, 2009.
18. ^ Brandenburg Minister of Justice Schöneburg resigned. Berliner Morgenpost, December 14, 2013, accessed on December 14, 2013 . 
19. ↑ New ministers appointed to the state government. In: press release. State government of Brandenburg, State Chancellery, January 21, 2014, accessed on May 21, 2016 . 
20. ^ Announcement by the regional returning officer of October 6, 2014: Final result of the election for the 6th Brandenburg State Parliament. (PDF; 716 kB) Selected applicants from the individual state lists. In: Official Journal for Brandenburg No. 44/2014. October 29, 2014, p. 1407 , accessed May 21, 2016 . 
21. ^ Members of the rbb Broadcasting Council , accessed on March 27, 2016
22. ↑ Schöneburg . (PDF; 95 kB) Utopie Kreativ , issue 94, 1998, p. 60.
23. ^ Future minister plays down the GDR dictatorship . In: Die Welt , October 30, 2009.
24. ↑ Schöneburg . In: Neue Justiz , 1992, p. 49.
25. ↑ ^{a b} Schöneburg . ( Memento of the original from December 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF) In: WeltTrends , Heft 34, 2002, p. 105f. 
26. ^ Conference report in: Our Time - newspaper of the DKP , 23 August 1996.
27. ↑ Key points for a concept for public safety in the state of Brandenburg .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF) Die Linke - parliamentary group in the Brandenburg state parliament, 2009, p. 27ff.  
28. ^ Karl Wilhelm Fricke : Historical revisionism from an MfS perspective ( Memento from June 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 132 kB)
29. ↑ See table of contents of the journal IK-KORR .
30. ↑ The fear of the grassroots . In: Berliner Zeitung , October 28, 2009.
31. ↑ Regional sports . In: Potsdam Latest News , August 7, 2004.
32. ^ Homepage of the law firm. ( Memento of the original from December 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . 
33. ↑ Yvonne's dachshund also got a medal . In: BZ , August 17, 2004.