Court organization in Frankfurt a. M. (1867-1879)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The court organization in Frankfurt a. M. (1867–1879) was based on the result of skilful negotiations between the Frankfurt delegation and the victorious Prussia after the German war . The Free City of Frankfurt , one of the four city-states in the German Confederation , lost its previous independence . It was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia and, as the urban district of Frankfurt am Main, together with the neighboring states of Kurhessen and Nassau, which were also annexed, it was added to the newly formed province of Hesse-Nassau .

In contrast to that of the neighboring states that were also annexed, the previously existing judicial system in Frankfurt remained largely in place. It was not until almost a decade after the founding of the German Empire in 1871 that the Courts Constitution Act came into force on October 1, 1879 , regulating the structure of ordinary jurisdiction across the entire empire.

The city of Frankfurt and the rural communities belonging to its area largely retained the previous court structure at the lower and middle levels, as regulated in the law on the court constitution of the free city of Frankfurt of September 16, 1856; only the highest authority changed.

A representation of the court constitution of the former free city of Frankfurt am Main , which was valid from 1867 to 1879 , can be found in the unofficial section of the Justice Ministerial Gazette for Prussian legislation and administration of justice from February 15, 1867. It had the purpose of “an overview of the court constitution of the former free imperial city Frankfurt a. M. as it existed at the time of its incorporation into the Prussian state. "

The Supreme Court: The Upper Tribunal in Berlin

One of the most noticeable changes was that of the third instance court , i.e. the supreme court: On the basis of a treaty between the four free cities in the German Confederation, this was the higher appeal court of the four free cities in Lübeck from 1820 to the end of 1866 ; in its place came from 1867 the upper tribunal in Berlin . At the end of 1866, its jurisdiction in civil matters was determined.

The court of second instance: The appellate court in Frankfurt a. M.

The appellate court consisted of the president and six councilors. Until 1866 there were seven councilors elected and appointed by the Senate of the Free City of Frankfurt . Judicial decisions always had to be made by at least three members of the court ( chamber principle ).

Jurisdiction in civil proceedings

In civil litigation, the Court of Appeal to decide appeals and complaints against findings ( judgments ) and decisions of the Municipal Court I , which had the same first or second instance issued 29 (Art. Of Constitution supplement Act of 19 July 1816 § 5 of the Act of 20. May 1817 and Section 11 of the Organic Law of September 16, 1856).

Jurisdiction in the voluntary jurisdiction

In the voluntary jurisdiction , a complaint was made to the court of appeal against the decisions of the City Court II (Section 7 of the law of November 7, 1848).

Jurisdiction in criminal proceedings

Appeal Court
The appellate court was responsible for deciding on the legal remedies against findings (judgments) of the breeding police court (according to today's criminal law: judgments on offenses ) (Art. 6 of the Criminal Procedure Code of September 16, 1856). It also decided on complaints against penal and confiscation orders ( confiscation of assets) by the administrative authorities (administrative authorities).
Prosecution Chamber
An indictment chamber (consisting of three judges) was to be formed at the appellate court . This chamber decided on complaints from the public prosecutor's office or the accused against the orders of the investigating magistrate issued in the course of the investigation and, after the investigation, on the referral of the matter to the competent court or the termination of the proceedings,
Assisenhof
An Assisenhof (jury court), consisting of three judges, was also to be formed at the appellate court. The court of appeal appointed the president and his deputy from among its members or from among those of the city court. The other members were appointed by the President of the Court of Appeal after the appointment of the Assistant President. The twelve jurors decided on the question of guilt ; if the jury wanted to rule against the accused, they needed "more than seven votes". The jurisdiction of the Assize Court extended to the crimes, which were threatened with the death penalty, with penal or correctional prison sentence of over five years and " removal from service " and a number of other certain serious crimes.

Prosecution in criminal proceedings

The business of the public prosecutor's office at the appellate court was carried out by a senior public prosecutor.

The courts of first instance

The city office

The name suggests an administrative authority, but it is a judicial authority. In the Free City of Frankfurt, administration and justice were not separated , as were the offices in Nassau , which were only dissolved in 1867 and replaced by districts and district courts .

Until 1856 the city office had three departments, each with a judge and an actuary . From 1857 it only had two departments. The urban area was accordingly divided into three districts until 1856 and two districts from 1857 onwards. The city office had no jurisdiction in criminal matters. In civil disputes (civil cases) the court was responsible for disputes worth less than 300 guilders in the main claim.

The Land Justice Department

In addition to the land judicial office (court), there was also a land administration office (administrative authority). Here the separation of justice and administration was also visible from the outside. The Land Justice Office was staffed with a judge and an actuary and was responsible for the areas of Bornheim, Niederrad and Oberrad, the villages of Hausen and Bonames. Similar to the city office, the Land Justice Office had no jurisdiction in criminal matters, but was responsible for civil law disputes worth less than 300 guilders in the main claim.

The city's transcription and mortgage agency

The transcription and mortgage authority roughly corresponded to the later land registry , which was formed by the land registry rules at the local courts. It consisted of three lawyers with the participation of the city ​​geometer , his assistants and the city field jury . They were subordinate to the supervision of the City Court II and for the entry of all changes in the ownership of properties occurring in the city and its district in the transcription register, for the notarization of the establishment, cession and cancellation of mortgages and residual letters of purchase, as well as for the issuing of deeds about ownership and the encumbrances on real estate (under later law comparable to the land register extract ).

The fiscal budget

The fiscal authorities were a kind of public prosecutor, but not primarily for criminal prosecution, as the public prosecutor is today , but merely represented the interests of the tax authorities, i.e. the property interests of the state. So there was B. Reichsfiskale in the old German Reich (at the Reichskammergericht and the Reichshofrat ), but also many German individual states had this function for their territory.

The fiscal tax consisted of the fiscal and a fiscal adjunct . In the city and its district, they were responsible for carrying out ( judicial seizures ) and subhastations (foreclosures) of real estate (land) on behalf of the judicial and administrative authorities, making seals in the event of death (securing the estate according to § 1960 BGB , by the probate court and the local court ) to propose the guardian and to protect the interests of the tax authorities , unless special fiscal lawyers have been appointed.

The complaint court

The complaint court consisted of two judges and actuaries. The judge had the function of the police judge according to § 11 ff. Of the Prussian Criminal Procedure Code, i.e. the general meeting and decision for all violations and offenses that were threatened with imprisonment of up to a maximum of 6 months or a fine of up to a maximum of 500 thalers. The complaint court had no jurisdiction in civil legal disputes.

The city court

It consisted of a director and nine councilors. Less than three judges were not allowed to make a decision (chamber principle). The director was responsible for managing business and administration. The court appeared in three arbitration bodies : All judges as a plenary, the City Court I for civil law decisions and the City Court II.

The plenum of the city court, i.e. all ten judges, had jurisdiction in expropriation proceedings ( expropriation proceedings ). It issued the so-called alienation knowledge. In the event of a tie, the chairman has the casting vote.

The city court had two departments. The City Court I consisted of the director and four councilors and was responsible for the urban area of ​​Frankfurt, and in the second instance was also responsible for the complaints and appeals of the Land Justice Office. In civil disputes, it was the first instance to decide everything that did not fall within the jurisdiction of the city office or the rural judicial office, including the divorce proceedings . It also supervised the trade and cooperative register kept by the bill notaries (cf. Art. 87 of the General German Bill of Exchange Regulations - ADWO); A separate protest register had to be kept about the bill protests, which had to be publicly displayed ( Section 10 of the Introductory Ordinance to the ADWO ). As a second instance, it decided on complaints and legal remedies in processes that are pending at the city office or the state judicial office.

The City Court II consisted of three councils, among which the oldest chaired. In criminal matters, the criminal chamber and the council chamber decided according to the criminal procedure regulation of June 25, 1867, introduced in Frankfurt by the ordinance of June 25, 1867. In the voluntary jurisdiction it also decided on declarations of legal age and requests for arrogation. Arrogation (based on the model of Roman arrogatio ) was a special form of adult adoption according to Frankfurt private law.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Judicial Constitution Act of January 27, 1877
  2. ↑ published in the Official Gazette of September 20, 1856, Collection of Laws and Statutes of the Free City of Frankfurt, Volume 12, JG Holtzwart, Frankfurt ( frankf GS) , pp. 241–249
  3. ^ Num. 5: Constitution of the former Free City of Frankfurt am Main. Justiz-Ministerial-Blatt for Prussian Legislation and Administration of Justice, Non-Official Part, published in the Bureau of the Justice Ministry, year twenty-ninth, R. v. Decker, Berlin February 15, 1867 (No. 7) ( Preuss JMBl.) 1867 pp. 54-60
  4. ↑ Announcement No. 6429: Ordinance concerning the administration of justice within the former free city of Frankfurt. Dated October 3, 1866. Collection of laws for the Royal Prussian States (No. 51), year 1866 ( prussian GS) 1866 p. 606
  5. ↑ Announcement No. 6482: Ordinance on the procedure in the civil matters under the jurisdiction of the Higher Tribunal from the area of ​​the former free city of Frankfurt. From December 12, 1866. Collection of laws for the Royal Prussian States (No. 66), year 1866 ( prussia GS) 1866 p. 795
  6. ↑ Art. 29 of the Constitutional Amendment Act of July 19, 1816
  7. ↑ § 5 of the law of May 20, 1817
  8. ↑ published in the Official Gazette of September 20, 1856, Collection of Laws and Statutes of the Free City of Frankfurt, Volume Twelfth, JG Holtzwart, Frankfurt ( frankf GS) 1856 p. 244
  9. ↑ Art. 27 of the Constitution Amendment Act
  10. ↑ Section 20 of the Law on the Constitution of the Free City of Frankfurt from September 16, 1856, Collection of Laws and Statutes of the Free City of Frankfurt, Volume Twelve, JG Holtzwart, Frankfurt frankf GS 1856 p. 246 ; published in the Official Gazette of September 20, 1856
  11. ↑ Section 34 of the Law on the Constitution of the Free City of Frankfurt of September 16, 1856, published in the Official Gazette of September 20, 1856, Collection of Laws and Statutes of the Free City of Frankfurt, Volume Twelve, JG Holtzwart, Frankfurt ( frankf GS) 1856 p 248
  12. ↑ Section 32 of the Law on the Constitution of the Free City of Frankfurt from September 16, 1856, published in the Official Gazette of September 20, 1856, Collection of Laws and Statutes of the Free City of Frankfurt, Volume Twelve, JG Holtzwart, Frankfurt ( frankf GS) 1856 p 238
  13. ↑ § 24 of the Law on the Constitution of the Free City of Frankfurt of September 16, 1856, published in the Official Gazette of September 20, 1856, Collection of Laws and Statutes of the Free City of Frankfurt, Volume Twelfth, JG Holtzwart, Frankfurt ( frankf GS) 1856 p 246
  14. ↑ Criminal Procedure Ordinance of June 25, 1867
  15. ↑ Section 26 of the Act on the Forced Assignment of Immovable Property. From June 8, 1866, ( frankf GS) 1866 p. 357 ff.
  16. ↑ Section 16 of the Court Organization Act of September 16, 1856
  17. ↑ Announcement No. 6704: Art. XVII. the ordinance on criminal law and criminal proceedings in the parts of the country united with the monarchy by the law of September 20, 1866 and the two laws of December 24, 1866, with the exception of the former Oberamtsbezirks Meisenheim and the enclave Kaulsdorf. 25 June 1867 . In: Law Collection of the Royal Prussian States 1867 (No. 62), ( pruss GS) 1867 pp. 921, 930
  18. ↑ Announcement No. 6802: Decree of August 28, 1867, concerning the business treatment of those from the areas of the former Duchy of Nassau, the formerly free city of Frankfurt a. M. and the requests and legitimation of children born out of wedlock, as well as requests for a declaration of age and arrogation from the area of ​​the formerly free city of Frankfurt. In: Law Collection of the Royal Prussian States, pruss GS 1867 (No. 86) p. 1440
  19. ↑ § 57 On paternal authority, which II) is obtained through adoption and arrogation , § 58 Continuation: On the effects of adoption and arrogation . In: Justinian von Adlerflycht (Schöff and Senator): The private law of the free city of Frankfurt - first and second part, third main part. Of the rights between parents and children. , HL Brönner, Frankfurt a. M. 1824 p. 87 ff.