You can approach the court in Germany in several different ways – whether it is because you have been charged with a criminal offence, or if you are involved in a civil legal dispute, and have an ax to beat your employer, public administration, and social affairs. security or tax office. But one thing is always the same: it is clear which court is responsible, and the law regulates the responsibilities. For example, if I insult someone on my doorstep and they sue me, one Jena County Court judge is responsible (if there is a hearing at all). Who exactly sits in front of me is also clear in advance, because the judges of the court are self-managed and give themselves fixed and transparent business allocation schemes. Responsibility is supposed to be ultimately determined by the first letter of my last name.
We take this “right before a legitimate judge” for granted in a constitutional state, even if we think about it. Years ago, I spoke to a local court judge, who explained to me that things were very different in the GDR’s judiciary. Not only did the court directors decide relatively freely as to who got the case, but there were also regular staff meetings at which it was discussed in advance how and how the case should be decided. The lower courts were controlled by the higher courts in various ways during the ongoing proceedings, and the SED, which controlled the one-party state, had opportunities to exert influence at all levels. You can do all of that in great detail Read the reports of the commissions of inquiry about the treatment of the SED dictatorship.
Today we generally find such events scandalous because we have an idea of the independence of the judiciary, which in turn goes back to a general idea of the separation of powers. I suspect that no one in school could avoid at least once pointing out that in a state there is a legislature (legislative), executive (executive) and judicial (judicial, judicial) that do not coincide. Historically, this is not a normal issue. For a long time it was more the rule than the exception for a ruler to be the master of court over his subjects and to be able to take legal action, if not himself, then at least take it upon himself.
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