Impeachment

The impeachment of an office holder is carried out in various professions in the event of serious misconduct. Impeachment is often preceded by impeachment proceedings .

Removal of notaries from office

As an independent holder of a public office ( Section 1 of the Federal Notary Code (BNotO)), the notary is subject to strict professional requirements and rules when performing his or her official duties. In order to maintain the reliability and reputation of his profession, the notary is to be removed from his office under mandatory conditions. These requirements are regulated in numbers 1 to 10 of Section 50 (1) of the Federal Notary Code (BNotO). The supervision of notaries according to §§ 92 ff. BNotO.

The notary is to be removed from his office,

if the requirements of § 5 BNotO no longer apply or it turns out after the order that these requirements were wrongly assumed to be present;

if one of the conditions exists under which the appointment of a state judicial officer is void, must be annulled or withdrawn;

if he refuses to take the oath of office prescribed in § 13 BNotO ;

if he accepts a salaried office or by § 8 subject to authorization para. 3 BNotO activity exercises and approval in accordance with § 8 para. 1 sentence 2 or in accordance with § 8 para. 3 BNotO required approval at the time of the resolution of the Regional Judicial Administration does not have the ouster exist;

if, contrary to Section 8, Paragraph 2 of the BNotO, he or she pursues another professional activity or, contrary to the provisions of Section 9, Paragraph 1 or Section 2 of the BNotO, connects with other persons for joint professional practice or has common business premises with them;

if he is in financial decline; asset collapse is presumed if insolvency proceedings have been opened against the notary's assets or if the notary is entered in the register to be kept by the enforcement court ( Section 26 (2) of the Insolvency Code , Section 882b of the Code of Civil Procedure );

if, for health reasons, he is not only temporarily unable to exercise his office properly;

if his economic circumstances, the nature of his business management or the execution of custody transactions endanger the interests of the person seeking legal advice;

if he repeatedly rudely against

Prohibition of participation in accordance with Section 3 (1) of the Notarisation Act or
Violates obligations in accordance with Section 17 (2a) sentence 2 number 2 of the Notarisation Act
;

if he does not have the mandatory liability insurance ( § 19a BNotO).

Impeachment of judges

According to the German Judges Act , a judge can be removed from office in accordance with Section 30 of the German Judges Act (DRiG).

(1) A judge for life or a judge for a certain period of time can only do so without his written consent

in proceedings on judicial indictments ( Art. 98, Paragraphs 2 and 5 of the Basic Law)

in judicial disciplinary proceedings,

in the interests of the administration of justice ( Section 31 DRiG),

if the court organization changes in Germany ( Section 32 DRiG)

transferred to another office or removed from office.

(2) The transfer or removal from office can - except in the case of paragraph 1 no. 4 - only be pronounced on the basis of a final judicial decision.

(3) The same applies to a transfer if a judge who holds several judicial posts is removed from office.

Removal of works council members

Upon application, a works council member can be expelled from the works council due to a gross violation of his official duties . A quarter of the employees entitled to vote, the employer , a trade union represented in the company or the works council can submit an application for exclusion to the labor court § 23 (1) BetrVG. The exclusion of the works council has the consequence that the official thus retired council member to legal force deciding its special after-effects and protection against dismissal and the dislocation protection loses ( § 15 para. 1 Consumer Protection Act, § 103 para. 3 WCA). A single gross breach of duty is enough to justify the exclusion.

Impeachment of officials

The removal of civil servants from office is regulated in the law regulating civil servants' status rights in the federal states ( Civil Service Status Act - BeamtStG). According to § 23 BeamtStG, they are to be dismissed if they

refuse the oath of service or a pledge prescribed in its place,
cannot be taken into retirement or temporary retirement because a waiting period under pension law has not been fulfilled,
are permanently incapacitated and the civil servant relationship does not end as a result of being retired,
request the dismissal in writing or
have been appointed after reaching the age limit.

According to Section 24 (1) BeamtStG, the civil servant relationship ends if a civil servant is judged by a German court in ordinary criminal proceedings

for a willful act to a prison sentence of at least one year or
for an intentional act that under the provisions on peace treason , high treason and endangering the democratic rule of law , treason , external security or to the extent that the act refers to an official act in the main office and hazard corruption is a criminal offense to a prison term of at least six months is sentenced, with the final judgment.

The same applies if the ability to hold public office is denied or if the civil servant has forfeited a fundamental right based on a decision by the Federal Constitutional Court pursuant to Art. 18 of the Basic Law.

Removal of board members

The removal from office of board members , for example a health insurance company , can only be pronounced in connection with a gross violation of official duties and is to be regarded as a so-called "dishonorable dismissal" from board membership ( Section 59 (3) SGB IV). The board of directors is responsible ( Section 33 Paragraph 3 Sentence 3 SGB IV).

Impeachment in canon law

The impeachment ( amotio ) is a form of the termination of office in canon law . It is carried out against the will of the incumbent, but, unlike dismissal, does not constitute a punitive measure.

Ex officio an impeachment is to be carried out in the case of loss of the clerical status , in the case of apostasy from the Catholic faith or in the case of clerics who have tried to enter into a marriage , even if it is only a civil marriage .

Web links

Wiktionary: impeachment - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

↑ Exclusion from the works council , ifb, accessed on October 30, 2015.

[1] Exclusion from the works council , ifb, accessed on October 30, 2015.