Justice in Schaumburg-Lippe

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The judiciary in Schaumburg-Lippe was characterized by slow modernization.

The Justice of Schaumburg-Lippe in the Old Reich

Lower jurisdiction

With the division of the Grafschaft Schaumburg-Lippe in 1647, the Grafschaft (from 1807: Principality) Schaumburg-Lippe was created in the later form. The lower jurisdiction was exercised by the offices and cities.

There were four offices:

The office was initially led by a Drosten . Since 1558 officials are increasingly named as heads of administration. These were both administrators and judges. An official assessor acted as a representative. The jurisdiction of the offices was only subject to ordinary people (those who were not excluded). There were a few manors with their own jurisdiction .

The basis of the jurisprudence was the police order of 1615, common law and only where it was common law Saxon law . In criminal matters, the offices were only responsible for certain offenses and for sentences of up to three days.

In addition, the magistrate courts of the cities of Bückeburg and Stadthagen as well as the spots of Hagenburg and Steinhude existed as courts of first instance . The mayor had the function of the bailiff there, the city syndic that of the assessor. The competencies of the cities were also comparable to those of the offices. Stadthagen however had full criminal jurisdiction.

Superior jurisdiction

The Princely Justice Chancellery served as the upper court. The legal basis of the work was the chancellery regulation of 1619. It was both the highest administrative and judicial authority.

At the beginning of the 18th century the process of separating administration and judiciary began at the upper level. The judicial regulations of December 21, 1728 and the court order of January 30, 1731 regulated the functioning of the courts, the administrative tasks were increasingly taken over by the court chamber. In 1765 the government conference "(from 1777: government) was formed from the councilors of the chancellery and the court chamber. The judicial chancellery was now exclusively responsible for jurisdiction.

The judicial office was the appellate authority. According to the court order of 1640, appellation was only possible if the value in dispute was 50 thalers. In 1731 this limit was abolished, making appeals much easier.

Furthermore, the law firm was the court of first instance for the exemtes : This privileged group included the employees and servants of the colleges, landowners and nobles. According to the edict of August 6, 1684, the Jews were also privileged.

The law firm was the criminal court of first instance. In the judicial regulations of December 21, 1728, Count Albrecht Wolfgang proclaimed the independence of the judiciary in criminal matters.

The judiciary consisted of three judicial councils. The chamber decided collegially with a majority of the members.

Appellation to the emperor

Since the counts do not have the privilege de non appellando possessed, in certain cases, an appeal to that was Reichskammergericht and Reichshofrat possible.

Special dishes

There were special courts for certain groups of people or circumstances . The Princely Consistory served as the court of first instance for the clergy , members of the clergy and teachers. A revision to the judicial office or later to the judicial senate was possible. The law office served as a military court for active and retired soldiers and their relatives . In addition, specially formed military courts were used.

In 1768 the police commission was established. Their tasks were, among other things, the trade inspection and public order and tranquility. Penalties of up to 14 days could be imposed within the framework of police criminal jurisdiction.

After the end of the HRR

Justice Senate of the Princely Government

With the end of the HRR in 1806, there was no longer any possibility of appealing to the emperor. The Justice Senate of the Princely Government has therefore been the highest court in the country since the end of the HRR. It consisted of 3 to 5 government councilors and served as a second instance for revisions against the law firm (value in dispute 10 Reichstaler) and as a third instance (supplication instance) in the case of an amount in dispute of 50 thalers and for all criminal cases.

Mostly, however, files were sent .

The Justice Senate of the Princely Government was also the supreme administrative authority in judicial matters and was therefore responsible for furnishing the offices and personnel matters.

Court of Appeal

Article 12 of the Federal Act of 1815 required the states to set up courts of appeal as the third and final instance in civil and criminal matters. Each state should have at least one such court, and states with fewer than 300,000 residents should form such a court with their relatives or other states.

Three variants were discussed in Schaumburg-Lippe: The formation of a common court with Anhalt , Reuss and Schwarzburg or together with Lippe and Waldeck-Pyrmont or with Braunschweig . A decision was made in favor of a joint Oberappellationsgericht Wolfenbüttel of the Duchy of Braunschweig and the principalities of Waldeck-Pyrmont, Lippe-Detmold and Schaumburg-Lippe. The Higher Appeal Court was opened on January 2, 1817.

The court was staffed with a president, 5 higher appeal judges and 2 higher appeal clerks. Of these, Waldeck-Pyrmont and Schaumburg-Lippe each alternately provided an appellate judge, Lippe another and the rest of the staff was named by Braunschweig. The first president was the Waldeck court judge Wilhelm Waldeck zu Corbach.

In the German Confederation until the March Revolution

No significant changes were made to either the organization of the courts or judicial policy until 1848.

The Criminal Procedure Ordinance of September 11, 1828 led to timid modernization. Apart from the abolition of torture , however, there has been no great progress.

On December 22, 1837, Schaumburg-Lippe joined the Hanover Tax Association (Hanover, Braunschweig, Oldenburg). As a result, tax courts were set up at the offices of Bückeburg, Stadthagen and Hagenburg.

1845 to 1847 the privileges for sextons, teachers and Jews and the persons of the "personally exempt place of jurisdiction" were revoked.

Neither the ideas of the French Revolution nor the liberal ideas of the Vormärz had so far noticeably influenced the judiciary in Schaumburg-Lippe.

March Revolution

In March 1848, the government in Schaumburg-Lippe was forced to make extensive liberal concessions as part of the March Revolution . With regard to the jurisprudence, the demands were: separation of powers , professional judges and the introduction of jury courts . In view of the impossibility for a small country to reform the judiciary on its own, the government promised liberal judicial reform in 1849.

The liberal government councilor Capaun-Karlowa commissioned the judicial councilor Lagerfeldt to draw up a draft law that was presented on September 29, 1849. He proposed 3 district courts, a regional court and a higher court for Schaumburg-Lippe and Lippe. All extemptions should be lifted, administration and justice should be separated and jury courts and a public prosecutor's office should be introduced. Even if the draft received broad approval in the state parliament, it was never implemented. With the beginning of the reaction era , the liberal achievements of 1848 were almost completely reversed.

In the reaction era

A single judicial law, the Judicial Control of Government Members Act of January 2, 1849, was retained. With the Military Penal Act of June 30, 1855, the powers of the military courts were curtailed. Fewer crimes now fell within their territory and the military no longer fell under its jurisdiction.

The biggest change in the Reaction Era was initiated abroad. With the Braunschweig Courts Constitution Act, Braunschweig regulated that the Wolfenbüttel Higher Appeal Court should no longer be responsible for Braunschweig and set the ducal Higher Court as the highest instance. In 1855 Waldeck also left the Wolfenbüttel Higher Appeal Court. In October 1855, the Wolfenbüttel Higher Appeal Court was therefore overturned and the first senate of the ducal high court became responsible for Schaumburg-Lippe. Capaun-Karlowa, previously a judge of appeals, was judge at the ducal high court.

North German Confederation

With the accession to the North German Confederation , Schaumburg-Lippe lost the competence for a judicial policy. In 1871 the North German Criminal Code was introduced. Initially, however, the introductory law to the North German Criminal Code hardly changed the organization of the courts.

At the end of 1871, however, the separation of administration and justice began on the lower level as well. The offices were entrusted with the administration of justice. On December 22, 1871, the jurisdiction of Bückeburg, and on January 1, 1874, that of Stadthagen was transferred to the offices. There were thus three courts of first instance, the three offices of Amt Bückeburg , Amt Stadthagen and Amt Hagenburg .

German Courts Constitution Act

After the Courts Constitution Act came into force on October 1, 1879, the judiciary in the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe was also reorganized. The local courts of Stadthagen and Bückeburg were established as the first instance and the district court of Bückeburg as the second instance. Initially the Higher Regional Court of Oldenburg , from 1909 the Prussian Higher Regional Court of Celle, by virtue of the State Treaty, was also responsible for Schaumburg-Lippe. The other courts have been repealed. The introduction of the jury trial and the public prosecutor's office was also new.

This court organization was also retained in the Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe .

literature

  • Claus-Dieter Bornebusch: The judiciary in Schaumburg-Lippe: From the Congress of Vienna to the Reich justice legislation. Dissertation. Bösendahl, Rinteln 1974, ISBN 3-87085-057-4 .

Individual evidence

  1. 200 years of the Oldenburg Higher Regional Court