Reich judge

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Reichsgerichtrat was the official title of (associate) judge at the Reichsgericht . The presiding judges at the Reichsgericht carried the official title of Senate President . The Reichsgerichträte were proposed by the states.

history

Empire

appointment

When a judge resigned, the state to which the resigning judge belonged was usually asked to propose a proposal. The Federal Council then usually appointed the nominee. With the departure of the first generation of judges in 1896/97, the occupation of the council positions was discussed in the press. It was repeatedly criticized that the judges should be selected by the Reich Justice Office , since it was assumed that smaller states do not consider qualifications in the selection. When they were appointed, older judges were regularly awarded the Order of the Red Eagle, IV class.

activity

Switching between criminal and civil panels was not uncommon for judges. The criminal and civil senates differed in terms of workload.

Judges in civil panels

The civil law senates were in continuity with the Reich Higher Commercial Court : in 1879 17 judges out of 41 judges in the civil senates were previously judges of the Reich Higher Commercial Court . The members of the Reich Court in the civil senates always complained about the workload. In addition to the lack of budget posts, this was also due to the fact that the revision in the civil senates often led to "interference by the Reichsgericht in the assessment of the question of fact". According to § 134 GVG 1879 , no auxiliary judges were actually allowed to be called in. Otherwise it was feared that the Reich Justice Office would influence decisions. In order to cope with the business volume of the early years, Prussia provided judges for the auxiliary senate at its own expense . This was remedied with the establishment of two senates and corresponding council offices in 1884/86. In the 1890s the civil senates were busy. In order to prevent the imminent workload with the new BGB, further council offices and a new civil senate were established. Contrary to the will of an appointed commission made up of members of the Imperial Court of Justice, which has always favored an increase in the revision amount to 3,000 marks. In 1902 it was found that the business case was underestimated. To relieve the Reichsgericht, additional auxiliary judges were hired from June 1, 1910, and extended to June 1, 1914 in 1913. The 11 auxiliary judges were appointed to strengthen the seven civil senates. Every fortnight there was a meeting chaired by the oldest judge in addition to the two weekly meetings.

Judges in criminal panels

The Imperial Criminal Code of 1871 was based on the Prussian Criminal Code of 1851. Therefore, the courts of the other federal states were based on the Prussian Upper Tribunal until the establishment of the Imperial Court in 1879. Therefore, 6 out of 18 judges were taken over by the Upper Tribunal. The judges in the criminal tribunals had fewer workloads. Around 1900, revisions were done 4–6 weeks after receipt. Each Senate held two sessions a week in which 12-15 issues were dealt with.

retirement

According to § 130 GVG 1879 , a Reich judge only resigned in the case of permanent incapacity. Schlesinger retired at the age of 81 after 32 years of service as a Reich judge. Until 1904, when retiring, the Red Eagle Order II. Class with a star was routinely received , after 1904 III. Class awarded.

Weimar Republic

In the Weimar Republic , the judges complained about the workload caused by multiple memberships in the newly created courts of justice that were attached to the Reichsgericht: State Court , Reichsbahngericht , Electoral Examination Court at the Reichstag , State Court for the Protection of the Republic . In addition, there were assignments of competencies as in the war crimes trials . In addition, the number of revisions had reached a new high. In civil law, this caused rising inflation , which sparked disputes over the business basis of long-term contracts and led to a de facto lowering of the audit fee. A steep increase in divorces after the First World War (“divorce epidemic”) and non-amnestied crimes from the turmoil of 1919–1921 led to further revisions.

Since March 1922 there was a judges' association at the Reichsgericht to represent interests. The club could not prevent that by December 1923, the workforce reduction Regulation retire due to age several councils had to, because since then was for members of the Supreme Court 68 years as age limit. The lowering of the age limit for the Reich judges to 65 years was called for in the judicial crisis. Due to the affair of the "colleague Jorns " in 1930 the Reichstag member Rosenfeld ( SPD ) demanded a peer push at the Reichsgericht to democratize the highly conservative judges' corps. So far, the Reichstag had tried in vain to correct the case law of the 4th Criminal Senate in cases of “literary treason ” by changing the law. Of the 25 newly appointed councilors in the republic, none came from a working or salaried family.

National Socialism

At the beginning of the Nazi era , the law to restore the professional civil service resulted in the forced retirement of several judges who were Jewish or politically unpopular. The so-called " front fighter privilege " in § 3 II 1 was formally valid for most of the councilors of the Reichsgericht because they had started their professional career before August 1, 1914. Nonetheless, non-Aryans ( Alfons David ) or the only social democrat ( Hermann Großmann ) were shot. Furthermore, judges from academic families (54.5%) or from middle-class professions (40.5%) dominated during National Socialism. The NSDAP participated in the appointments of the judges of the Reichsgericht. The staff of the Deputy Leader examined the applicant.

Official costume

The gown of the imperial judges consisted of a robe and a beret made of crimson wool and a white scarf with protruding tips. The trimmings of the robe and the border of the beret were made of red velvet . The border of the beret was held together by three gold cords for the president , two gold cords for the presidents of the Senate , and two red silk cords for the councilors. The very highest decree on the official costume of the judges of the Reichsgericht dated October 29, 1879 still applies today to the robes of the judges at the Federal Court of Justice .

Reichsgerichträte commentary

The Reichsgerichträte are known through the Reichsgerichtsräte-Comment (RGRK) on the BGB , which they founded in 1910 . After 1945 the RGRK was continued by the Walter de Gruyter publishing house (Berlin / New York), but was discontinued with the appearance of the 12th edition in 1974.

Between 1940 and 1943, a Reichsgerichteräte commentary on the Commercial Code was published in its first edition (RGRK-HGB). It was actually the 15th edition of Hermann Staub 's commentary. The name change and the newly started census served, in line with National Socialist ideology, to conceal the decisive influence of the Jewish legal scholar. Since the 4th edition in 1982 the work has been published again under the name of its founder.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Eduard Müller : The first twenty-five years of the Reichsgericht, in: The first 25 years of the Reichsgericht, special issue of the Saxon Archives for German Civil Law on the 25th anniversary of the highest German court, p. 33 ff.
  2. ↑ Adolf Lobe : The external history of the Reichsgericht, in: Lobe (Ed.): Fifty Years Reichsgericht on October 1, 1929, Berlin 1929, p. 9.
  3. ↑ Karl Schulz (1844–1929), Reich Court Librarian: “The discharge of the Reich Court” , in: Paul Laband / Georg Jellinek / u. a. (Ed.): Handbook of Politics. Volume 1: The basics of politics, 2nd edition, Berlin and Leipzig 1914, p. 347 ; Eduard Müller : The first twenty-five years of the Reichsgericht, in: The first 25 years of the Reichsgericht, special issue of the Saxon Archives for German Civil Law on the 25th anniversary of the highest German Court of Justice, p. 36 ff .; Emil Boyens (1848–1925): Border between the question of fact and the question of law, in: The first 25 years, p. 153 ff.
  4. ↑ Law regarding the jurisdiction of the Reichsgericht of May 22, 1910, RGBl. P. 767
  5. ↑ Law on the employment of auxiliary judges at the Reichsgericht dated December 8, 1913 RGBl. P. 779.
  6. ↑ Karl Schulz (1844–1929), Reich Court Librarian: “The discharge of the Reich Court” , in: Paul Laband / Georg Jellinek / u. a. (Ed.): Handbook of Politics. Volume 1: The basics of politics, 2nd edition, Berlin and Leipzig 1914, p. 346 .
  7. ^ Johann von Treutlein-Moerdes (1858–1916): The public prosecutor's office at the Reichsgerichte, in: The first 25 years of the Reichsgericht, special issue of the Saxon Archives for German Civil Law on the 25th anniversary of the highest German court of law, p. 122.
  8. ^ Karl Linz : The judges' association at the Reichsgericht , in: Adolf Lobe (ed.): Fifty years of the Reichsgericht on October 1, 1929 . Berlin 1929
  9. ↑ § 60a of the Reichsbeamtengesetz as amended. of Art. I No. IV of the Staff Reduction Ordinance of October 27, 1923, RGBl. I, p. 999, 1000
  10. ↑ a b Friedrich Karl Kaul , History of the Reichsgericht, Volume IV (1933–1945), East Berlin 1971, p. 51 ff.
  11. ↑ Lothar Gruchmann : Justice in the Third Reich 1933–1940: Adaptation and submission in the Gürtner era. 3. Edition. Oldenbourg, Munich 2001, p. 207 f .; Decree on the participation of the Fuehrer's deputy in the appointment of civil servants of September 24, 1935 (RGBl. IS 1203) and the AV of the Reich Minister of Justice of November 24, 1935, DJ 1935, p. 1656.
  12. ^ Adolf Lobe : The external history of the Reichsgericht, in: Lobe (Ed.): Fifty Years Reichsgericht on October 1, 1929, Berlin 1929, p. 7 f .; Fig.Berett (V / 366/2008) from the Leipzig City History Museum .