Justice in the Kingdom of Westphalia
The judicial system in the Kingdom of Westphalia put down in 1807 in the Kingdom of Westphalia a complete break with the existing structures of the administration of justice . As Napoleonic model state of the test was as well as to renew the court system on a systematic basis, and to unify the legal system undertaken.
Law
Following the French model, Napoleon issued a constitution for the new kingdom , the Constitution of the Kingdom of Westphalia . On January 1, 1808, the civil code ( Code Napoléon ) and civil procedural law ( Code de procédure ) were introduced in the Kingdom. However, it took until September 1808 for the German printed versions of the legal code to be distributed in the provincial administrations. In fact, the standardization of the jurisprudence was difficult, since according to the new law conflicts should be decided as a legal interpretation and not as a case-based legal process. A French criminal law was not introduced. In cases of doubt, the old legal codes of the federal states (e.g. General Prussian Land Law ) should be used.
Ministry of Justice
Article 19 of the Constitution regulated the establishment of a Ministry of the Interior and Justice. With an ordinance of December 23, 1808, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Justice were separated, so that the Ministry of Justice had the overall supervision of the administration of justice. Justice Minister of Westphalia was from 1807 to 1813 the French law professor Joseph Jérôme Siméon . On October 12, 1813, Gustav Anton von Wolffradt took over the Ministry of Justice from Siméon for the last weeks of the kingdom's existence, as the latter fled to France from the approaching Cossacks .
Judicial system
The organization of the courts was reorganized. The previous courts (including the patrimonial courts ) were repealed and new courts were installed. The principles here were:
- Separation of administration and jurisdiction
- Judicial independence
- From a certain importance of the dispute, judgments should not be made by individual judges, but by arbitration boards
- The process should be public
- The cases were not allowed to run for more than a year
- The instance train should not exceed 2 levels.
The public process in particular was an attempt by the government to integrate. This feature from the old Germanic jurisprudence procedure should increase the willingness of officials and the population to cooperate with the new court system.
The judiciary was regulated in Part 11 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Westphalia (Art. 45–52). For rulings in civil matters was at the level of each canton a justice of the peace charge as arbitrator. From a certain size in the canton, the judge was entitled to an actuary and otherwise spoke judgments as a single judge with an assessor in a public trial. The justice of the peace stood outside the actual instance and was intended as a mediator in the style of the English justice of the peace . Up to a value in dispute of CHF 74, he decided in the last instance; an appeal was possible for amounts in dispute up to CHF 148. Justices of the peace were not allowed to sport all cases that fell directly under their procedural competence , which meant very low salaries for the judges despite the flood of proceedings that had accumulated in the peace courts.
For higher amounts in dispute, courts of first instance were set up at district level . They served on the one hand as appellate courts for decisions by the justices of the peace and on the other hand as courts of first instance for amounts in dispute of up to CHF 1,000. The district courts decided in tribunals . These consisted of three judges for appeals against decisions of the justice of the peace and four judges for decisions of the first instance. Each district court consisted of a president and five other judges. Appellation at the Appellationshof Kassel was possible against decisions of these courts . Here too, justice was given in the ruling chambers (tribunal of the 2nd instance). The Council of State acted as the court of last instance as the court of cassation . The separation of administration and judiciary was thus implemented except for the dual function of the Council of State de iure .
A criminal court has been set up at the level of each department for the judiciary in criminal matters . An appellation was not possible. Only a petition for clemency to the king was possible against his judgments. Less serious criminal proceedings (police offenses, i.e. those up to a fine of 20 francs) should be decided by the justices of the peace who preside over a municipal police court with a corresponding adjunct in personal union.
For voluntary jurisdiction (clarification of property, handling of purchases and auctions, notarizations and contracts), there was a notary in each canton in addition to the courts of justice.
There were also commercial courts in some cities . Military criminal proceedings were tried within the framework of military justice.
Public prosecutors
Public prosecution offices were set up at the criminal courts and the Kassel appellate court . The prosecutors held the title of General Procurator . In addition, to relieve the general procurators, procurators of the king were installed in the districts, who unofficially acted as mediators for conflicts between the administrative and judicial authorities.
List of dishes
Supreme Courts
- Appellationshof Kassel
- Appellationshof Celle (from 1810)
- Court of Cassation (Council of State)
In September 1810, the Electorate of Braunschweig-Lüneburg became part of the Kingdom of Westphalia. As a result, the Celle Appellationshof was set up as the second Appellationshof. The two farms were responsible for the following departments:
Criminal courts
Civil courts
(Due to the high number, the individual peace courts are not listed here)
Other dishes
The Braunschweig Commercial Court also remained in the Kingdom of Westphalia. The Handelscollegium zu Kassel, the local commercial court, was however repealed. A prize court was set up in Kassel .
The country's universities had their own university jurisdiction.
The prefectural councils can be understood as an early form of administrative jurisdiction . These were arbitration chambers located at the départements to decide on objections regarding administrative action.
A mining, smelting and salt office was located in each of the 19 mining authority districts , which decided on disputes in the mining sector.
Two military courts of first instance and one military court of second instance were established in each division. Extraordinary military courts were also set up.
literature
- Anton Bauer: Outline of the court system of the Kingdom of Westphalia. Marburg 1811. (online at: books.google.de )
- Johann Samuelansch : Handbook about the Kingdom of Westphalia for instruction on the country and inhabitants, constitution, administration and external conditions of the state in general and its individual parts in particular, together with a list of the most distinguished court and state officials ” . Hemmerde and Schwetschke, Halle 1808, pp. 135 ff.
- Heinz Mohnhaupt: Judge and court practice in the constitutional structure of the Kingdom of Westphalia. In: Andreas Hedwig u. a. (Ed.): Napoleon and the Kingdom of Westphalia. System of rule and model state policy. Elwert, Marburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-7708-1324-7 , pp. 167-190.
- Kathrin Wrobel: About tribunals, justice of the peace and Maires: court constitution, jurisdiction and administrative organization of the Kingdom of Westphalia with special consideration of Osnabrück. V and R Unipress, Göttingen 2004, ISBN 3-89971-168-8 , pp. 81-97. (online at: books.google.de )
- Constitution of the Kingdom of Westphalia , Bulletin des lois et décrets du Royaume de Westphalie. Aubel, Cassel 1807, p. 8 ff. (Online on the website of the Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe (PDF; 6.9 MB))
Web links
- Digitization project of the Bulletin des lois et décrets du Royaume de Westphalie on the Internet portal for Westphalian history (complete by May 1808, with index of the corresponding years)