Foregger was, from January 1987 to December 1990, an independent minister. Under the cabinet of
Franz Vranitzky, Foregger was the Federal Minister of Justice. During his tenure, he judged over politically sensitive process, as such in the
Lucona case and the
Noricum Scandal, but other explosive events accompanied his tenure such as the murder of Kurdish political leader
Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou and the scandals facing
Fred Sinowatz and
Hannes Androsch. The fact that many of his proceedings were particularly against leading
Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) members (which was the leading party at the time) had not allowed Foregger to adjust his ministerial referral like his predecessors
Harald Ofner and Christian Broda repeatedly so. This earned him public respect, but also meant that the SPÖ-led government formed a veto against a further term of Foregger after the National Council elections in 1990. During his tenure as justice minister, Foregger put in a renewed juvenile offence system, as before that the extrajudicial offense resolution had elicited a European role model. Discrimination against illegitimate children in hereditary and family law was abolished and the prohibition of violence in child-rearing was enshrined. In 1991, he even acted as a joint presidential candidate for the presidency of the ÖVP and the
Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ). His reputation, however, fell after the parole of murderer
Jack Unterweger, who continued to murder more women and other people thereafter. == Further reading ==