Chancellor Angela Merkel's government has appointed a new justice minister, to succeed Katarina Barley who is moving on to serve in the European Parliament.

Barley's Social Democratic party, Merkel's junior-coalition partner in government, said Wednesday that Christine Lambrecht would move from a deputy minister job in the Finance Ministry to become the new justice minister.

Lambrecht, 54, has been a member of parliament since 1998 for the Social Democrats.

Born in the western city of Mannheim, she studied at the university there and the University of Mainz. She is a lawyer by profession.