Supreme party court of the NSDAP
The supreme party court of the NSDAP was the highest instance of the National Socialist party courts for the implementation of party regulation procedures . The court had its seat at Karolinenplatz 4 in Munich .
The statutes of the NSDAP of July 21, 1921 set up an arbitration committee and a committee of inquiry , which had to assess all new admissions and party exclusion proceedings . Adolf Hitler saw these committees as an instrument to suppress internal party opposition. After the re-establishment of the NSDAP in 1925, the two committees were combined to form the Investigation and Arbitration Committee (USchlA) . According to the statutes of May 25, 1926, the main task of the new body was to review admission and exclusion procedures and to settle disputes within the party.
Local USchlAs were formed at Gau and local level, headed by the USchlA in Munich. The bodies comprised a chairman and two assessors . In order not to bind the committee members as the executive organ of the party leadership, the facts leading to exclusion were not precisely defined, which meant that the judges had more extensive freedom.
In order to present the rule of law , new guidelines were issued for the USchlAs in 1929 , which were based on the Code of Criminal Procedure . In 1931 responsibility was expanded to include the SA and SS . After the introduction of the law to ensure the unity of party and state in December 1933, the USchlA was renamed party courts, at the head of which was the highest party court with several chambers .
In 1934 the procedures were more closely aligned with criminal procedures through new guidelines . The catalog of punishments was expanded and retrial proceedings were permitted. The party courts were viewed as a separate branch of the state courts, state courts had to provide legal assistance, and from 1936 judges who were lawyers had the right to swear in witnesses and experts .
Efforts to create a separate jurisdiction for the SA failed because of Hitler's veto and the resistance of the judiciary and the Reichswehr .
The court played an important role after the November pogroms in 1938 , as it helped to cover up crimes and cover up perpetrators through its procedures, thus consolidating the Nazi dictatorship.
After the trial against Josef Wagner , at which the court saw no grounds for a conviction against Hitler's will for formal legal reasons, the power of the court was significantly reduced, especially since every judgment had to be confirmed by the party chancellery . In 1944 almost all party judicial proceedings were suspended.
Persons who worked at the highest party court
- Bruno Heinemann , chairman until 1927
- Walter Buch , chairman from 1927 to 1945
- Karl Ostberg
- Ulrich Graf
- Hans Frank
- Wilhelm Grimm , Chairman of the Chamber until March 9, 1939
- Walter Knop
literature
- Nils Block: The party jurisdiction of the NSDAP. Lang, Frankfurt am Main et al. 2002, ISBN 3-631-39097-1 ( European university publications . Series 2: Law 3377), (At the same time: Berlin, Freie Univ., Diss., 2001).
Individual evidence
- ^ Helmut Heiber, Institute for Contemporary History: Regesten, Part 1, Volume 1: Files of the party chancellery of the NSDAP. Oldenbourg Verlag 1983, ISBN 3-486-49641-7 , p. 379.