Fewer drug offenses: District Court Aurich shows positive trends 2025

Fewer drug offenses: District Court Aurich shows positive trends 2025

At the Aurich District Court, a lot has happened in recent years. A look at the numbers shows a remarkable decline in procedures that violate the Narcotics Act. As the NWZ reports online, the number of these procedures in 2024 dropped to 183, which means a decline of almost 50 percent compared to 2023 (339 cases). This positive development is not only a sign of a more stable security situation, but also for the effects of the new cannabis law, which came into force on April 1, 2024.

Since then, the possession of up to 25 grams of cannabis has been legal in Germany. This step was taken out with joy, which is why hundreds of people celebrated with joints at the Brandenburg Gate. As part of an amnestial regulation, around 100 convicted consumers have already been released from custody prematurely, according to Zeit.de. In reality, the layoffs could even be 150 to 200 cases higher, since some federal states like North Rhine-Westphalia have not published any numbers.

digital reforms and personnel situation

But it's not just about less cannabis violations. At the Aurich District Court, the adhesive demonstrations decreased from 141 in 2021 to 121 in 2024. These developments are also likely to go hand in hand with digitization. The switch to electronic files in civil and family matters has already been completed, and the introduction in the criminal area is to follow by 2026. Here, too, the NWZ online reports on internal training courses that are already running.

The civil law procedures show an opposite tendency. Here there was an increase in the new procedures from 1255 in 2021 to 1341 in 2024. The divorces also increased significantly, from 947 to 1106. But not only family law remains in motion, the bankruptcies also move to the pre-corona level. With 132 corporate and 747 private bankruptcies in 2024, these figures are within the framework of expectations.

The challenges of the Cannabis Act

Despite the pleasing decline in certain procedures, there are also challenges in connection with the Cannabis Act. According to RSW.BECK.de, the judicial authorities had to edit over 200,000 files nationwide as part of the amnesty. This was associated with enormous additional effort, since many files had to be searched manually, which contradicts the principle of digitization. It is estimated that this effort is created for around 4,800 working days for all of Germany.

The implementation of the amnesty regulation is described by the judicial authorities as demanding, especially because of the tense personnel situation. Preparation complicates that no transitional period for the implementation of the new law was granted. The law stipulates that all imposed punishments imposed but not yet enforced are issued if the crime is no longer punishable according to a new legal situation. As explosive as the topics are, the possibility of long-term relief of the judiciary would still be rated positively, since the stress of the courts is at least partially reduced by old cannabis violations.

A planned reform at the federal level could increase the value limit for smaller procedures from 5000 euros to up to 10,000 euros in the future. A step that may shift the influx of smaller cases to the district courts.

What remains? A progress in case law, numerous new procedures in civil law and the challenge of editing old files according to the new cannabis law. Nevertheless, the developments at the Aurich district court show that you are on the right track.