Court organization of the former German colonies

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This article describes the court organization of the former German colonies and protected areas .

General

With the establishment of a colonial empire, the necessity arose to also set up a judicial organization. This was done differently in the individual areas, taking local conditions into account. However, some principles applied to all colonies. Above all, the principle that the locals were not citizens of the German Empire with all rights and obligations was essential. Therefore, there was also a clear dichotomy in the jurisprudence: on the one hand, the court organization for the majority of the locals and on the other hand, courts for the colonial rulers. For the most part, there was no separation of jurisdiction from administration . The colonial administrative authorities were typically also the courts for the natives ("native courts"). The determination of the applicable law was also problematic. Local legal traditions existed but were not codified. In addition, the colonial authorities were only imperfectly familiar with this local law. German law, however, was only partially introduced. This made possible arbitrary case law, whose claim to the rule of law had to subordinate to the requirements of securing power.

The legal basis was the Protected Areas Act . For the whites, it was based on the rules of consular jurisdiction . The Hanseatic Higher Regional Court or a German Consular Court could be appointed as the court of appeal and appeal court in civil litigation, in bankruptcy matters and in matters that are not part of the disputed jurisdiction . For cases in which natives are involved as defendants or accused, a court of justice in the protected area should be determined in the same way.

The plans to set up a colonial court or a colonial senate at the Reichsgericht as the highest court in questions of colonial law led to a draft law officer in 1910. This draft law on the establishment of a colonial court was not passed on the grounds that the number of third-instance proceedings in colonial matters was low. The related discussions in politics and jurisprudence continued until the war.

In the individual colonies

Togo

Seal of the district office of Lome, administrative authority and court of first instance

In the German Colony of Togo , the district leaders were also chief administrators in the respective district offices and court lords for the locals. The governor of the colony was the revision body and court for crimes with higher penalties . From 1907, surveys and studies were carried out to codify a "native law". However, these activities could not be completed due to the outbreak of war. The Lome District Court existed in Togo. The court of second instance was the "Imperial Higher Court of the Protected Areas of Cameroon and Togo" in Buea (Cameroon), which was responsible for the affairs of whites in both colonies.

Cameroon

In Cameroon , the Buea Higher Court (which was also responsible for Togo) and the Duala Higher Court were the court of second instance. These included the District Courts Duala, Kribi and Lomie. A professional judge was seconded to the Sanga area for New Cameroon in 1912. However, this area was temporarily part of the district of the Lomie District Court. A final formation of separate judicial districts no longer took place.

Kiautschou

Courthouse in Tsingtau, Kiautschou (around 1914)

In Kiautschou, the district offices were courts of first instance for the Chinese population, who made up the vast majority of the population. They spoke law under traditional Chinese law. In June 1898 an imperial court was established. This consisted of two judges and one chief judge. The Imperial Court was a revision instance against judgments of the district offices and court of first instance for the Europeans in the colony. The court of appeal was initially the consular court in Shanghai . From January 1, 1908, there was an Imperial Court of Second Instance in Kiautschou.

German East Africa

In German East Africa, the ordinance governing legal relationships in German East Africa of January 1, 1891 governed the judiciary. In 1914 there were district courts in Dar es Salaam, Tanga, Tabora and Moschi. In Dar es Salaam, the Dar es Salaam High Court existed as a second instance.

German South West Africa

In German South West Africa , the Windhoek Higher Court existed as a second instance. This included the five district courts of Windhoek, Swakopmund, Keetmanshoop, Omaruru and Lüderitzbucht. At the Lüderitzbucht district office there was a criminal investigation department for diamond offenses. In 1913 the district courts were filled with eleven professional judges. In addition, there were two lay judges each for dealing with medium-sized criminal cases and four lay judges for serious crimes.

German protected areas in the South Seas

The following courts existed for the German protected areas in the South Seas :

Micronesia

In the Marshall Islands , an Imperial Court was established in Jaluit in 1886 and an Imperial High Court there in 1890. In 1906 the Imperial Court was converted into a District Court and the Supreme Court abolished. The court of second instance was now the Imperial Supreme Court in New Guinea. In the Carolines and Mariana Islands , District Courts were formed in Ponape, Jap, and Saipan in 1899. In 1911, the Saipan and Jaluit District Courts were overturned. The upper court was the Imperial High Court in New Guinea.

Bismarck Archipelago and Kaiser-Wilhelms-Land

In German New Guinea , the Rabaul Supreme Court was a court of second instance. These included the district courts of Rabaul ( Bismarck Archipelago ) and Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen ( Kaiser-Wilhelms-Land ) and the above-mentioned district courts of Ponape and Jap. A chief judge and a district judge were appointed professional judges in Rabaul. In the three other district courts, the district administrator acted simultaneously as district judge. Before 1910 the seat of the higher court was in Herbertshöhe .

Samoa

In German Samoa , a Samoa Higher Court was set up, to which the Apia District Court was subordinate. On September 1, 1886, the German consular court in Apia was named as a court of second instance. On March 1, 1900, the Apia Supreme Court was set up instead . The Apia District Court was subordinate to this as the court of first instance . First of all, there was no separation of the judiciary from the administration : the governor was also the chief judge. Since 1904 there was a separate chief judge in Apia.

These courts were responsible for the colonial rulers. In certain cases they were also responsible for natives. These were initially those cases for which the previous joint Higher Court of Samoa or the Municipal Council of Apia had been responsible. They were also responsible for land conflicts. Samoan judges ("Faamasino") were responsible for the other civil law cases. An appeal to the imperial courts was possible against their decision.

Disciplinary Courts

Seal mark K. Disciplinary Chamber for the protected areas

The disciplinary court for the protected areas was the first instance the disciplinary chamber for the protected areas based in Potsdam and the second instance the disciplinary court for the protected areas based in Berlin. The disciplinary body consisted of seven members, the disciplinary court of eleven members.

List of dishes

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Law on the legal relationships in the German protected areas. April 17, 1886, online
  2. ↑ Harald Sippel: Typical manifestations of a colonial legal and administrative system; in: Kolonialisierung des Rechts, p. 351 ff.
  3. ↑ Thomas Kopp: Theory and Practice of German Colonial Criminal Law; in: Kolonialisierung des Rechts, pp. 106-107.
  4. ↑ Compare, for example, Paul Königsberger : On the new draft law on the establishment of a colonial court, Deutsche Juristen-Zeitung, year 19 (1914), column 165
  5. ↑ Peter Sebald: Togo 1884-1914, pp. 291-311.
  6. ^ The German Colonial Legislation (Berlin 1893, digitized copy on archive.org), page 187; Section 2.2 of the "Service Instructions, Regarding the Exercise of Jurisdiction in the Protected Areas of Cameroon and Togo"
  7. ↑ Hubatsch names on pages 453 and 479 the higher court Buea and on page 455 the higher court Duala
  8. ↑ Hubatsch: Outline of German Administrative History, pp. 452–455.
  9. ↑ Klaus Mühlhahn: Rule and Resistance in the "Model Colony Kiautschou", p. 263
  10. ^ Ordinance on the regulation of legal relationships and the exercise of jurisdiction in Kiautschou by the Reich Chancellor of April 27, 1898
  11. ↑ Supreme ordinance concerning the establishment of a court of the second instance in the Kiautschou protected area of ​​September 28, 1907
  12. ↑ Klaus Mühlhahm: state power and discipline; in: Kolonialisierung des Rechts, pp. 128–129.
  13. ↑ RGBl. I.
  14. ^ Harald Sippel: Administration and Law in German East Africa; in: Kolonialisierung des Rechts, pp. 283–284.
  15. ↑ Hubatsch: Outline of German Administrative History, pp. 429–431
  16. ↑ Deutsches Kolonialblatt 11: 94; Order concerning the regulations of the administration and legal relationships in the island areas of the Carolingians, Palau and the Mariana Islands of June 24, 1899
  17. ^ Gerd Hardach: Colonial rule in the field of tension between repression and legitimate order in Micronesia 1885-1914; in: Kolonialisierung des Rechts, pp. 106-107.
  18. ↑ Hubatsch: Outline of German Administrative History, p. 499
  19. ↑ Hubatsch: Outline of German Administrative History, pp. 521-522.
  20. ↑ Hubatsch: Outline of German Administrative History, p. 544
  21. ^ Imperial regulation of June 5, 1886, p. 4.
  22. ^ Imperial decree of July 30, 1900, § 5
  23. ^ Imperial decree of November 9, 1900, § 6
  24. ^ Hermann von Hoffmann: Administrative and judicial constitution of the German protected areas, 1908, p. 105 ff, online
  25. ↑ AusfBest. to the KolBG. of June 8, 1910, RGBl. P. 1091
  26. ↑ [1]