District Court (Prussia)

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In the Kingdom of Prussia, the district court has been called the court of first instance since 1849. For the district of cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants, special courts could be formed, to which the designation "city court" was added. 30 years later, with the unified court constitution of 1877 (in force from October 1, 1879), the still valid designation of the regional court for the collegiate court of first instance was introduced, at the same time local courts were set up with single judges in civil matters. Since 1806/1808, the district court was usually preceded by the regional and municipal court , but there were also courts of first instance with a different name.

District courts 1849–1879

As a result of the abolition of "private jurisdiction", which primarily meant the patrimonial jurisdiction of the landed aristocracy or the landlords (which could also include cities, religious bodies and educational institutions), as well as the extensive abolition of the special personal jurisdiction of certain classes of citizens (nobility, students , Clergy) a more uniform judicial system was introduced, the judicial districts in the Prussian provinces were redefined and the tasks of the courts of justice redefined. With the exception of most of the Rhine Province, district courts were introduced as the first instance court. In addition, separate city ​​courts were set up in the then largest cities (with at least 50,000 inhabitants) . Only Berlin , Breslau and Konigsberg were the seat of such city courts; Danzig and Magdeburg had combined city and district courts. District courts were responsible for the other cities and rural regions, in 1850 236 in number. The judicial district was based on the administrative districts (districts), but could also deviate from this. The seat of the court is usually in the district town as the seat of the district administration. In 34 cases, one district court was responsible for two districts. On average, a district court was responsible for 50,000 residents.

Each district court had a district court director and at least five, exceptionally four judicial members (district court councils or district judges).

Court commissions and court deputations were associated with the district courts. These were branch offices of the court in other places in the district area. A judicial commission consisted of a single judge (who was also a judge of the district court) and non-judicial staff. He decided on civil law cases in his district below certain value limits. Court deputations corresponded to today's external chambers, so they were made up of several, at least three judges and could therefore also decide cases for which a collegial court was necessary.

District courts before 1849

In the Rhine Province until 1820

Before 1849 the judicial organization in Prussia was heterogeneous and thus a mirror of the equally fragmented substantive law. However, when the Prussian judicial administration took over the administration in the Rhineland, which was under French sovereignty until 1814, not only did the Civil Code apply, but also decided in favor of the continuation of the French judicial system. For example, in the provinces of Jülich-Kleve-Berg and the Grand Duchy of Lower Rhine, “District Court” was the name of the previous French tribunals of the first instance from 1814 to 1820. The following district courts existed:

District / Commercial Court Seat Appeal Court Remarks
District Court Düsseldorf Dusseldorf Appellationshof Düsseldorf
District court Mülheim am Rhein Mülheim am Rhein Appellationshof Düsseldorf
District Court of Aachen Aachen Appellationshof Cologne
District Court of Cologne Cologne Appellationshof Cologne
District Court of Bonn Bonn Appellationshof Cologne
District Court of Malmedy Malmedy Appellationshof Cologne United with Aachen in 1819
District Court Krefeld Krefeld Appellationshof Cologne
District Court of Kleve Kleve Appellationshof Cologne
District Court Trier trier Appellationshof Trier
District court Echternach Echternach Appellationshof Trier Relocated to Bitburg in 1815
District Court Kusel Kusel Appellationshof Trier
District court St. Wendel St. Wendel Appellationshof Trier
District Court Saarbrücken Saarbrücken Appellationshof Trier
District Court Simmern Simmer Appellationshof Trier
District Court Koblenz Koblenz Appellationshof Trier
District Court of Prüm Prüm Appellationshof Trier

As early as 1820 these were dissolved and replaced by regional courts in Aachen, Düsseldorf, Kleve, Koblenz, Cologne, Saarbrücken and Trier, whose districts were therefore more extensive.

In New West Pomerania

For New West Pomerania, which was Swedish until 1814, the special court system with city and district courts on the entrance level was retained “for the time being”; In 1849 these city and district courts were dissolved and three new district courts were created according to the regular constitution of the other judicial districts in Pomerania.

Others

Some patrimonial courts , especially in West Prussia, were also designated as district courts until 1849 .

Individual evidence

  1. Ordinance on the abolition of private jurisdiction and the former place of jurisdiction as well as on the other organization of the courts of January 2, 1849 (PrGS pp. 1–13; in particular Sections 18, 19–23; enacted in implementation of Art. 88 of the constitution from 1848 )
  2. ^ Conrad Bornhak: History of Prussian Administrative Law , Volume 3, 1886, ISBN 978-3-662-25716-6 , p. 227
  3. ^ Justiz-Ministerial-Blatt , 1850, p. 352
  4. Max Bär: The authority constitution of the Rhine province. 1919, reprinted 1965, pp. 430-431.
  5. Max Bär: The authority constitution of the Rhine province. 1919, reprint 1965, p. 381.