Criminal judge
The word criminal judge can be used in a broader or in a narrower sense.
Criminal judges in the broader sense
In a broader sense, criminal judges are all judges who deal with cases in the area of criminal law (so-called criminal cases ).
Criminal judges in the narrower sense in Germany
In addition, the word criminal judge also describes a technical term from German criminal procedure law . This is defined in the German Courts Constitution Act (GVG).
In this sense, the criminal judge is a single judge , i.e. a panel at the district court with only one judge (namely a professional judge ) . On the other hand, for example, the other panel at the local court, the lay judge's court, consists of a professional judge and two lay judges .
The criminal judge is responsible for criminal matters that are assigned to the local court ( Section 25 GVG), unless the lay judge's court is responsible.
The jurisdiction depends on the amount of the expected punishment and whether the offenses are offenses or crimes ( offense character, see § 12 StGB ). The criminal judge is called to judge all offenses if they are pursued by way of a private lawsuit or if the expected punishment does not exceed a prison sentence of two years. The criminal judge is not allowed to decide if placement in a psychiatric hospital or preventive detention is to be expected, because in these cases the district court has first instance jurisdiction ( Section 74 (1) GVG).
On the other hand, the criminal judge can impose the same legal consequences as the lay judge's court ( Section 24 (2) GVG), in particular a sentence of a maximum of four years imprisonment (for further limits, see also Section 24 (2) GVG). The criminal judge does not have to submit a case if it only later turns out that the sentence will be more than two years but less than four years. The case is different, however, if the offense to be tried turns out to be a crime in retrospect. In this case, the criminal judge must refer to the competent court.
Against the judgments of the criminal courts there is the appeal of the appeal and revision . The appeal is before the district court, the appeal before the Court of Appeal held.
