kuk military justice system

kuk Lieutenant Colonel Auditor

The kuk military justice system embodied the military jurisdiction of the common army , the two kk landwehr and the ku landwehr . The members of the armed forces were subordinate to the military courts even in peace. Offenses were judged here according to the much stricter military penal laws and punished accordingly. (The same regulations and laws applied to the Austro-Hungarian Navy .)

During the peacetime there were five general auditors , one of whom was a head of the fourth department of the Reich Ministry of War , while three were department heads and speakers at the Supreme Military Court, as well as a chancellery director and consultant at the military court. In addition, the Landwehrobergergericht of the Royal Hungarian Landwehr had a general auditor as the office director and seven auditors as speakers.

Instances of military jurisdiction

Instances of military jurisdiction were:

• Garrison courts / from July 1, 1914: Brigade courts
• Military Court / from July 1, 1914: Divisional courts
• Supreme Military Court

The auditorium was entrusted with the administration of criminal justice. The auditors also had the task of supporting and advising the military commanders in all legal matters.

Prerequisite for the auditor career

• completed legal studies
• civil law practice
• Auditorium practice at a military court
• Completion of the practical training course on military law
• Passing the military judge examination

In the military courts of first instance were Lieutenant Colonel - and Major auditors , as well as captain - and Lieutenant auditors on duty. The military courts of the second and third instance were general , colonel , lieutenant colonel and major auditors.

Adjustment and arming of the auditors

Their headgear was a cap with a bush of black rooster feathers, similar to that of the military doctors . The tunic was dark blue in color and the cut of the officers of the German infantry . The leveling color of the paroli , cuffs and passepoils was madder red. The buttons were smooth and yellow. The blouse was also made of dark blue cloth and decorated with madder red parolis. Pantaloons and coat in blue-gray - the pantaloons with madder red passepoils - the coat with corresponding parolis. The auditors were armed with the infantry officer's saber.

Museum reception

In the Museum of Military History in Vienna , the Imperial and Royal Military Justice was given its own area in the permanent exhibition on World War I, which was newly adapted in 2014. Uniforms and headgear from members of the Imperial and Royal Gendarmerie , a captain and a general auditor are displayed in a showcase . Numerous photos, which are shown in an endless loop on a monitor, also document executions which were ordered by the Austro-Hungarian military courts during the First World War.

literature

• Allmayer-Beck , Lessing : The K. (below) K. Army. 1848-1914 . Bertelsmann, Munich et al. 1974, ISBN 3-570-07287-8 .
• The Austro-Hungarian Army 1895 . A series of images by Oskar Brüch , commented by Günter Dirrheimer. Leopold Stocker Verlag, Graz et al. 1997, ISBN 3-7020-0783-0 ( Writings of the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum 10).
• Rest, Ortner, Ilmig: The emperor's rock in the 1st World War . Verlag Militaria, Vienna 2002, ISBN 3-9501642-0-0 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Gregor Brezina: Austrian military court files of the Supreme Military Court in the First World War . Vienna 2012, p. 21st ff . ( Online [PDF; 1.3 MB ]).
2. ↑ Geſetz of July 5, 1912, RGBl. No. 130 , on the military code of criminal procedure for the common armed forces, § 19 .

Web links

Commons : Official patterns of Austria-Hungarian uniforms  - collection of images, videos and audio files