Social courts

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Social courts were in the GDR with lay judges occupied courts of "socialist justice". According to § 1 of the law on the social courts of the German Democratic Republic, "[t] he social courts [...] should be elected organs for the education and self-education of the citizens" and the "right of the citizens to participate in the administration of justice" realize.

history

The two kinds of social courts were that

The legal basis was initially the Arbitrators' Rules and the Conflict Commissions Ordinance of 1953. The constitution of the German Democratic Republic of 1968 then regulated in Article 92:

"In the German Democratic Republic, jurisdiction is exercised by the Supreme Court, the district courts, the district courts and the social courts within the framework of the tasks assigned to them by law."

- Article 92, VerfDDR68 (emphasis not on original)

The participation of lay judges in the administration of justice in general was enshrined in Article 90.

“Citizens' participation in the administration of justice is guaranteed. It is determined in detail by law. "

- Art. 90, para. 3 VerfDDR68

In implementation of the constitutional regulation, the law on the social courts of the German Democratic Republic - GGG of June 11, 1968 and the law on the social courts of the German Democratic Republic - GGG of 25 March 1982 were passed.

After the fall of the Wall , the conflict commissions and arbitration commissions were also included in the process of reintroducing a constitutional state . The dominant influence of the SED, renamed PDS , on the social courts ended. The first freely elected People's Chamber converted them into arbitration boards .

Members

The members of the social courts (there was no other official title), were according to § 2 "[...] in their case law independent [and] only bound by the constitution, the laws and other legal provisions of the German Democratic Republic."

Jurisdiction

The jurisdiction of the social courts extended to:

  • Labor law matters including innovator law (only before the conflict commissions)
  • civil disputes
  • Offenses if the matter was handed over by the investigative bodies, the public prosecutor's office or the courts (such as property offenses , bodily harm, traffic offenses, violations of occupational health and safety)
  • Misconduct (such as misconduct, insult and defamation, trespassing in the rooms and properties of a citizen)
  • Administrative offenses if the matter was handed over by the criminal offenders
  • School violations
  • "Work-shy behavior" (only from 1964 to 1979 before the arbitration committees)

Procedural statistics

The social courts had jurisdiction over a large number of cases. 1970 and 1985 accounted for:

Administration of justice Field of law 1970 1985
District and district courts Criminal matters (according to convicts) 63,214 a 59,574
Civil matters 30,606 55,280
Family law matters 65.507 88,356
Labor law matters   6,058 14,311
Social courts Criminal, labor and civil matters 65,905 93,330
a 1970-74 average

The proceedings within the social courts were distributed as follows:

Field of law 1970 1985
proportion of KK SchK proportion of KK SchK
Employment Law 27.5% 18,148 - 59.3% 55,317 -
civil right 10.4% 0 6,837 6.0% 329 5,280
Offense 33.9% 15,156 7,208 21.4% 13,948 6,034
Misconduct 25.7% 3,680 13,281 11.4% 3,604 6,993
Administrative offenses 1.2% 404 376 1.3% 620 572
School violations 0.8% 73 422 0.7% 147 486
work-shy behavior 0.5% - 320 - - -
total 65,905 37,461 28,444 93,330 73.965 19,365
proportion of 56.8% 43.2% 79.3% 20.7%

Similar facilities

country Facility Period Legal basis number
Germany Democratic Republic 1949GDR GDR Social courts:
KK ; SchK (until 1963: atonement offices )		 1953-90 Law on Social Courts (Journal of Laws of 1968 , 1982 ) 1970: 20,000 KK, <6,000 SchK
Soviet UnionSoviet Union USSR Товарищеские суды Comradeship Courts
 1919-38, 1956-95 Положение о товарищеских судах (ВВС РСФСР 1961 , 1977 ); also: общественный приговор (1957–65), товарищеские суды чести (from 1971) 1965: 230,000
PolandPoland VRP Sądy społeczne: w zakładach pracy; społeczne komisje pojednawcze
GG: at workplaces; total SchK 		1960? –90 Ustawa z dnia 30 marca 1965 r. o sądach społecznych ( Dz.U. 1965 nr 13 poz. 92 ) 1963: 50 + 200
CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia ČSSR Místní lidové soudy; rozhodčí komise
Local people's courts; Arbitration Commissions 		1961-69
1975-91		 Zákon ze dne 18. dubna 1961 o místních lidových soudech ( 38/1961 Sb. )
Zákon č. 20/1975 Sb. 		1963: 1,000
HungaryHungary UVR Társadalmi bíróságok
Social dishes 		1958–89? 1962. évi 24. törvényerejű rendelet társadalmi bíróságokról ?
RomaniaRomania SRR Comisiile de judecată
arbitration commissions 		1957-92 Legea no. 59 din 26 decembrie 1968 privind comisiile de judecată (B.Of. nr. 169 din 27 decembrie 1968) ?
BulgariaBulgaria VRB Другарските съдилища Comradeship Courts
 1961-91 Закон за другарските съдилища (Известия, бр. 50 от 23 юни 1961 г.) 1963: 10,000
China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China PRC 人民 调解 委员会 Rénmín tiáojiě wěiyuánhuì People's Arbitration Commissions
 1949-? 中华人民共和国 人民 调解 法 Zhōnghuá rénmín gònghéguó rénmín tiáojiě fǎ (2010 年 8 月 28 日) 1955: 158,000
Yugoslavia Socialist Federal RepublicYugoslavia SFRY Судовима удруженог рада
United labor courts 		1975-91 ЗУР (1976) , item 220; Закон о судовима удруженог рада (Сл. Гласник СРС, бр. 32/75) ?
AlbaniaAlbania SVRA Komiteti profesional
working committee 		? Kodi i Punës (1980) , Art. 100 ?

In addition: Complaint commissions for social insurance at the FDGB (see social jurisdiction )

literature

  • Werner Reiland: The social courts of the GDR. Univ.- Diss. Tübingen / Basel 1971. ISBN 3-7711-0949-3
  • Frank Rotter: The social courts in the GDR and the problem of alternatives to law , in: Alternative legal forms and alternatives to law. Yearbook for legal sociology and legal theory, Vol. 6, Opladen, 1980, pp. 462-475. ISBN 978-3-322-96990-3
  • Hans Martin Schmid: Social courts and their transferability to federal German criminal proceedings - A contribution to the institutionalization of community-related conflict settlement in general criminal law, Univ.-Diss. Würzburg, 1998.
  • Felix Herzog: Administration of justice - a matter for the whole people? Report on a study on the social courts in the GDR. Humboldt spectrum, issue 04/1999, pp. 20-26
  • Hans-Andreas Schönfeldt: From Arbitrator to Arbitration Commission: Enforcement of Norms by Territorial Social Courts in the GDR. (= Studies on European Legal History. Volume 145). 2002, ISBN 3-465-03176-8 .

Web links

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Law on the Social Courts of the German Democratic Republic. verassungen.de, December 17, 2004, accessed on December 29, 2015 .
  2. ^ Order on the establishment of atonement bodies in the German Democratic Republic (Arbitration Rules) of April 24, 1953 ( Journal of Laws No. 59, p. 647 )
  3. ↑ Ordinance on the formation of commissions for the elimination of labor disputes (conflict commissions) in state-owned and equivalent companies and in the administrations of April 30, 1953 ( Journal of Laws of No. 63 p. 695 )
  4. ↑ a b Text of the GDR Constitution 1968
  5. ↑ Journal I No. 11 p. 229
  6. ↑ Journal I No. 13 p. 269
  7. ↑ § 8 GGG 1968 ; §§ 13, 14 GGG 1982
  8. ↑ Statistical Yearbook of the GDR , 1978 and 1986
  9. ↑ Britta Schubel: History and the present of extrajudicial settlement of criminal matters by voluntary arbitration bodies in the new federal states (1997), pp. 316-319
  10. ^ Walter Knüsli: The social jurisdiction in Eastern Europe (=  European university publications. Series 2, jurisprudence . Volume 195 ). Lang, Frankfurt / M. 1978, ISBN 3-261-03130-1 .