Federal Minister of Justice
In the Federal elections held in August 1949, Dehler was elected into the Bundestag, the new federal parliament. The FDP party formed a coalition with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Christian Social Union (CSU) and the German Party (DP). CDU chairman Konrad Adenauer was elected Federal Chancellor, while FDP chairman Theodor Heuss was elected Federal President. On 20 September, Dehler was one of three FDP politicians to be appointed to Adenauer's cabinet and served as Minister of Justice.
As minister, Dehler was mostly concerned with the establishment of a judicial system within a democratic republic. In this context he attempt to limit the independence of the Constitutional Court, which resulted in misgivings between him and Hermann Höpker-Aschoff, a fellow FDP politician and after 1951 the Court's first president.
Dehler was also opposed attempts to reintroduce the death penalty, which the Basic Law had abolished in 1949 for Hitler/Nazi enemies. Such proposals were first voiced by the Bavaria Party in 1950 and discussed within the CDU/CSU in 1952. In his opposition, Dehler argued not so much against the death penalty itself but in favour of a loyal approach towards the young constitution. His opposition has also been interpreted as an attempt to shield German war criminals, an important constituency to which the FDP appealed by repeatedly demanding the release of all "so-called war criminals" from prison. While Dehler's motives remain unclear, Dehler in 1951 did intervene in proceedings against SS-Obergruppenführer Werner Best, resulting in the prosecutors dropping their charges. Best later resurfaced as one of the protagonists of the Naumann affair.
Dehler initially supported Adenauer's western policies - integration into NATO and rapprochement with France - as a means to gain enough international trust and weight to attain German reunification. However, as Adenauer's policies progressed, Dehler grew skeptical towards this approach and towards Adenauer's intentions, later accusing the Chancellor of having deceived him. Notable points of disagreement were the Saar issue, on which Adenauer cautiously tried to avoid conflicts with France, which tried to keep the region as its protectorate, without giving up German claims, and the Stalin Notes of 1952, which Dehler considered a sincere offer worth exploring further.
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