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It’s a first that should have a short half-life. Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) sees herself as a feminist and a pioneer of gender-equitable language, so her ministry has now simply tried something that is new legislative territory.
The feminine generic is used almost exclusively in the draft law for the “Further development of the restructuring and insolvency law (SanInsFoG)”. It’s packed with formulas such as employees, claimants, creditors, debtors, and “separate rights holders.”
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When asked if other federal ministries are also planning such legal texts exclusively with the feminine generic, government spokesman Steffen Seibert watches the federal press conference on Monday, quite puzzled. Nobody responds.
The problem, beyond all efforts to achieve greater linguistic equality: in jurisprudence, the masculine form in legal texts for “managing director” means male and female. If it only means “managing director”, this could mean that all male CEOs are no longer included or you could complain that it does not affect them as it is a form of language that has not yet been used in such legal texts. In other words, legal certainty would be needed first.
Two examples of the draft law: “If the legal person (…) is threatened with insolvency (article 18 of the Bankruptcy Code), the administrators safeguard the interests of all creditors.”
Elsewhere it stands out: “The restructuring plan can also design the rights of the holders of restructuring credits to whom (…) as guarantor, co-debtor or for any other liability assumed or before objects of the patrimony of this company ( Group internal third party guarantee) ”.
A Lambrecht spokesperson emphasizes the background to the experiment: “In general, when writing laws, care is taken to ensure that the language is technically correct and understandable. In addition, according to the joint regulations of the federal ministries, the bills must also express equality between women and men in linguistic terms. ”
But the test balloon explodes quickly. And some in the grand coalition wonder if something like this is necessary in times of the Corona crisis.
CDU / CSU: SPD risks delaying legislative process
“I don’t understand this kind of gender madness at all,” says, for example, the vice president of the CDU / CSU parliamentary group, Thorsten Frei, when asked by the Tagesspiegel. “We urgently need this law so that our economy can better deal with the consequences of COVID-19.” However, coalition partner SPD now risks delays in the legislative process, “because he believes he has to fight fundamental ideological issues at this time.”
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He hopes a lot “that it remains a one-time slip”. The vice chairman of the FDP parliamentary group, Stephan Thomae, emphasizes that the language must also be non-discriminatory in legal texts. “However, in view of the impending wave of bankruptcies, the bankruptcy and restructuring law is not the appropriate setting for the ridiculous coalition dispute over the generic use of feminine and masculine.”
Also critical within the SPD
Also in the SPD itself, some Social Democrats get stuck on issues that for many citizens miss the reality of their lives. Thomae says it is now important “that we provide small and medium-sized companies that have been in financial difficulties due to the crown with adequate instruments so that they can reorganize effectively and efficiently.”
Greens support Justice Minister Lambrecht
Support comes from the Greens. Ulle Schauws, spokesperson for women’s policy, emphasized: “It is time for the Union to finally move in both cabinet and coalition and take a modern position. Criticizing an easily understandable draft law, which is written in feminine form, because it is absurd “the so-called” habit of use “of the masculine generic (here it is necessary to” include “all genders).
Therefore, the Greens supported the Minister of Justice. “Women and people of a diverse gender clearly belong to the laws and applications.”
[Jetzt noch mehr wissen mit TPlus: Lesen Sie hier – Gerechtigkeit oder Unsinn? Die Debatte um geschlechtsneutrale Sprache ist noch nicht entschieden.]
The spokesman for the Minister of the Interior and Constitutional Affairs, Horst Seehofer (CSU), responsible for coordinating the laws, emphasizes that the law can hardly be constitutional. “Although the generic masculine, that is, the use of the masculine way of speaking, is recognized for people of masculine and feminine gender, the generic feminine for the use of men and women has not yet been recognized linguistically.”
According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the draft must comply with the applicable regulations. “This applies completely regardless of whether you want a certain social situation.” The correctness of the language must be ensured, especially with legal texts, also with regard to legal formality.
Lambrecht’s department announces rather quickly: The draft does not yet take into account “the results of the legal and language test”. In this sense, the draft will be reviewed before being presented to the federal cabinet.
