TV in the Courtroom Debate Comes to Germany

As I have pointed out on a few occasions (see here, here and here), both England and the United States have engaged in debates over whether court proceedings should be televised. In the United States, many lower court cases are televised, and in fact there is a cable channel devoted to showing these cases. Now German Justice Minister Heiko Maas wants some court proceedings in Germany to be televised:

Aus dem Gerichtssaal solle auch in Zukunft keine Showbühne werden, sagte Maas. Die Rechte der Verfahrensbeteiligten müssten gewahrt bleiben. "Aber was von den obersten Gerichten an Recht gesprochen wird, das wirkt sich auf das Zusammenleben unserer Gesellschaft aus."

Interestingly it is the proceedings of the highest courts in both England and the United States where television cameras are still forbidden out of fear that televising these proceedings will in fact create a "Showbühne" atmosphere. The response to Maas' idea from judges on Germany's highest courts was swift and not very welcoming.