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The Role of the Judiciary in Germany
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 March 2019
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In 1971, upon the conclusion of my university studies and my first state examination, and before sitting for my second (final) state examination, I commenced my practical training as a so-called Referendar at the Amtsgericht (local district court) in Gettorf, near Kiel. It was a very small court, employing only one judge who was responsible in this position for all legal cases. In addition, a total of approximately 20 other employees were working there. The court had no electric typewriter, and no copying machine. When a copy had to be made, the document was literally transcribed in the true sense of the word. Later, after my second and final state examination, I started my services as a judge at the Landgericht (regional court) in Bremen, a court with approximately 60 judges and a total of approximately 200 employees. It was not a matter of course that each judge had a telephone of his/her own. Moreover, connections to the outside world were frequently only possible through the general telephone exchange. One office had to be shared by several judges. Dictating machines were available, but not taken for granted. On the contrary, as a rule it was the usual practice for a clerk to take the minutes—even in cases for which the Code of Procedure did not specifically require this.
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- Copyright © 2004 by German Law Journal GbR
References
1 Grundgesetz (Basic Law), Art. 92 GG.Google Scholar
2 See supra note 1, at 129 for a report on a presentation made by Stefan Machura on the subject of Honorary Judges.Google Scholar
3 I have used the figures of 1999, as subsequent figures were not available in 2001. Figures are almost unchanged until now (except the still slowly but steadily increasing percentage of female judges). The figures for lawyers continue to increase.Google Scholar
4 Supra note 1.Google Scholar
5 Andreas Heldrich & Gerhard Schmidchen, Gerechtigkeit als Beruf, Justice as a Profession, (1982).Google Scholar
6 Grundgesetz, Art. 92.5 GG.Google Scholar
7 As there are so great disproportions of the “Pensen” inside one court as well as between the courts, recently a commission of the ministries of justice of the “Länder” was installed in order to find out better criteria. The results of the commission have not yet led to a consensus transferable into the practice of the courts in all “Länder.”Google Scholar
8 Grundgesetz, Art. 103 GG, “In court everybody is entitled to a hearing in accordance with the law.”Google Scholar
9 Grundgesetz, Art. 1.3 GG.Google Scholar
10 See, A.C. Koetz/L.Fruehauf, Organisation der Amtsgerichte (Organization of the Local Courts), (1991).Google Scholar
11 As an example of the series “Rechtstatsachenforschung“ (Empirical Sociology of Law), edited by the Federal Ministry of Justice see: Erhard Blankenburg, Alternativen in der Ziviljustiz (Alternatives in Civil Justice, Walter Gottwald & Dieter Strempel eds.), with essays by Klaus F. Roehl et al.Google Scholar
12 As an example of his studies on the inner life of the judiciary see Ruediger Lautmann, Justiz – die Stille Gewalt (Justice – the Silent Power) (1972).Google Scholar
13 See generally, Johannes Feest, Die Bundesrichter (The Federal Judges), in Beiträge zur Analyse der deutschen Oberschicht (Contributions to the Analysis of the German Upper Class) 127 (Werner Zapf ed., 1964). These are among the earlier works on the German Judiciary of the Sixties.Google Scholar
14 As an example of the “early” Rottleuthner see: Hubert Rottleuthner, Rechtswissenschaft als Sozialwissenschaft (Jurisprudence as Social Science) (1973); and now Steuerung der Justiz in der DDR (A Judiciary Controlled by the Governement in the G.D.R.), (Hubert Rottleuthner ed., 1994).Google Scholar
15 Ulrich Vultejus, Die Linke im Rechtsstaat (The Left Under The Rule of Law), in Hermann Gremliza & Heinrich Hannover, Die Linke (The Left) 220 (1980).Google Scholar
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