Power verdict
A power ruling is an extraordinary solution in a dispute in which the state power, the supreme authority in the state or an empowered party does not comply with a regulated procedure.
backgrounds
The highest ruler in the state, such as emperor or king, intervenes in the oral, written or customary jurisprudence. In doing so, the sovereign circumvents the usual procedure by virtue of his prerogative . Historical reasons were endless quarrels between subordinate rulers, which were resolved by a royal ruling.
A power verdict could only be pronounced by a ruler who was not himself the chief judge. A chief judge definitely has the established right to resolve disputes. The underlying idea was princeps legibus solutus ( detached from the laws ), according to which the ruler was not bound by his own laws. Sometimes a ruling on power stood in contradiction to a - actually last instance - court decision.
Sayings of power in the sense of an absolutist dominance are not only found among secular rulers in the form of cabinet justice , but the priesthood also used their position. The priesthood was without temporal and judicial power, but could also bring about a power judgment against the sovereign through spiritual rule .
The sovereign was able to find solutions that were convenient for him or desired for his retention of power and to enforce them with a power decision. Subjectively, from the sovereign's point of view, there was no abuse, since his position enabled and required such manipulations. In 1779, Frederick the Great considered a power ruling against the miller Arnold to be justified. A ruling overrides existing legal provisions, the effect of the ruling can be legally compliant, but also unlawful.
“I have made up my mind never to intervene in the course of the judicial process; for in the courts of justice the laws should speak and the ruler should be silent [...]. "
Even in medieval class regulations, such unlimited, sovereign handling was often restricted by constitutional regulations. In general land law , a passage was provided that was supposed to prevent the ruling on power, but this was not included in the current version.
One aim of the tripartite division of state power into legislative , executive and jurisprudential branches was to prevent the king or a cabinet order or the legislative authority from abusing a power decision. In particular, this should create opportunities to review the decision of the sovereign.
"Judicial power is exercised through independent courts that are only subject to the law."
An independent judge should rule according to the law and justice. If the law in question is "unbearably unjust" or if the law deliberately denies the equality of all people from the interpreter's point of view, conflicts can arise. In German law, the so-called Radbruch formula is used .
“So where [...] justice is not even sought, the orders thus created can only be judgments of power, never legal propositions [...]; so the law that denies certain people human rights is not a law. So here is a sharp boundary between right and non-right, while, as shown above, the boundary between legal injustice and applicable law is only a dimensional limit [...]. "
Sole rulers as legislators
A king and sole ruler has the ability to influence the law according to the law to suit his interests, or rather to have it adjusted by his specifications and his lobby. Henry VIII not only separated his church from the Pope, he also had the legal basis, the Bills, created by Parliament from the peers, the clergy and the commons, so that Anna Boleyn and his other wives could get through on this basis "law-abiding" to separate the respective death penalty. In Oxford in 1545 he had a professor and his pupil flogged for pronouncing Greek differently than the king himself. The necessary "bill" that the king is not to be contradicted was passed and approved by his legislators, in particular the parliament.
Figurative meaning
In a figurative sense, a power judgment can also be applied to discussions and disputes. In certain situations and with ongoing disputes, a power decision can result in termination. However, if a partner or a party unilaterally brings in a final opinion for different reasons or improperly , this can also prevent an optimal solution. The term is also used in this sense in team discussions when a responsible person ends the dispute in his or her own interest.
“The character of the sayings of power consists in truth, or size, combined with uncommon brevity and reprint. They work without event, conviction or admiration, and one feels so powerfully moved that one cannot think or feel otherwise. They belong to the highest and most important beauties of eloquence and poetry because they make important and at the same time lasting impressions. What one would only recognize through long thought, or would have felt after long striving, suddenly comes to our minds, as if by a miracle. They are to be regarded as precious jewels, both because of the sheen of their beauty and because of their intrinsic value, highly appreciable. "
Historic cases
- Hallesch power verdict
- Ruppiner's verdict
- Müller-Arnold case
- Habsburg Reformation Law
- Grimmaic power slogan (see Saxon coin division )
- Kurtrier ruling
- Power of the Tsar Ivan the Terrible
Literary examples
literature
- Holger Erwin: Spells of power: the ruling right to shape ex plenitudine potestatis in the early modern period . Böhlau, Cologne Weimar 2009. online version
Web links
- Power verdict . In: Heinrich August Pierer , Julius Löbe (Hrsg.): Universal Lexicon of the Present and the Past . 4th edition. tape 10 . Altenburg 1860, p. 668 ( zeno.org ).
- Epicureans (at Sulzer): General theory of the fine arts . Volume 2. Leipzig 1774. online version
