Angular lawyer
The expression Winkeladvokat or Winkelschreiber originally referred to a person who, without being a lawyer (formerly known as a lawyer ), professionally deals with the legal affairs of others for a fee. Today the term is a derogatory term for a lawyer who lacks legal knowledge and / or uses unfair methods.
Origin of the term
The term Winkeladvokat probably originated in the course of the 19th century and, according to the general opinion, refers to a lawyer who works unauthorized and secretly in a corner , i.e. in hiding. According to a folk etymological thesis of unexplained origin, the expression could also be derived from the Latin word vinculum ( band ), which in the figurative sense can also mean something like bondage , imprisonment or prison . However, the term " Winkeladvokat " does not refer to the lawyer who mainly represents criminals , such as petty criminals who are already in prison and similar clients. Rather, the advocatus vinculi is an advocate in matters of marital or church ties (see bond defender ). On the other hand, the term could also come from the Dutch word winkel for ( shop, shop ), which emphasizes the commercial nature of unfair legal advice. The term has had a distinctly negative connotation since the late 19th century .
Legal background
The so- called scribbling, i.e. working as a legal adviser without the appropriate qualifications, has been forbidden in Germany since 1935 under the Legal Advice Act; since mid-2008, the legal situation for free legal advice , so-called annex advice and for non-attorney full lawyers has been liberalized by the Legal Services Act . In Austria , scribbling is to be prosecuted as an administrative offense in accordance with Art. III, Paragraph 1, Item 1 of the EGVG.
Case law on use
In Germany, the expression was considered an insult after a decision made by the Cologne Regional Court in 2011 . Although the word does not have a clear meaning, it has a negative connotation. The justification for the decision was that it was understood to mean a person who was either intellectually incapable of practicing the legal profession appropriately, or who used methods that were in conflict with morality and law . The Federal Constitutional Court overturned the decision. In this legal dispute, however, it was about the expression angular advocacy , in the special case not a person, but a law firm was defamed. "The designation of a law firm can be covered by freedom of expression," says the reasons. Reason for the cancellation: The statement angled advocacy only affects the professional honor - and thus only the social sphere - of the person concerned, has a factual reference and was initially only made to the bar association and in the context of a civil process. The designation of a lawyer colleague as an angular advocate , or the designation of his office as an angular advocate , basically represents an encroachment on the personal rights of the person concerned. In the opinion of the Federal Constitutional Court, it is only an unacceptable abuse criticism if the person making the statement is about the defamation the person go. If, on the other hand, the statement is related in kind, it can be covered by the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression.
Use in National Socialism
Of anti-Semites , the term was not used for attorneys with a lack of, among other legal education, but the negative image of shysters specifically to Jewish lawyers projected (classification by race , not qualifying). Restrictions on Jewish lawyers were enacted in Germany in April 1933 under the law on admission to the bar . The Legal Advice Act passed in 1935 also had the task of excluding Jews from practicing legal professions. Due to the frontline fighter privilege , a large number of Jewish lawyers were still able to practice their profession until 1938.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ See Ernst Kretschmer: The world of Christian Morgenstern's gallows songs and Victorian nonsense . Berlin / New York 1983, p. 207.
- ↑ Kai von Lewinski : Outline of Legal Professional Law , 3rd edition, Baden-Baden 2012, ISBN 978-3-8329-7833-4 , p. 42 fn. 48.
- ↑ Wiktionary: angle
- ↑ Simone Rücker: Legal advice: Legal advice from 1919-1945 and the emergence of the Legal Advice Abuse Act of 1935 , Mohr Siebeck, 2006, p. 39.
- ↑ Legal Advice Act in the revised version published in Federal Law Gazette III, structure number 303-12, last amended by Art. 21a of the Act of June 21, 2002 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 2072 ) , Art. 1 Para. 1
- ↑ Bundeskanzleramt Rechtsinformationssystem.at: Introductory Act to the Administrative Procedure Acts 2008 , Federal Law Gazette No. 87/12008.
- ^ LG Cologne, judgment of November 25, 2011, Az. 5 O 344/10, full text .
- ↑ "Winkeladvokat" is an insult , n-tv from January 14, 2011.
- ↑ BVerfG, decision of July 2, 2013, Az. 1 BvR 1751/12, full text .
- ↑ BVerfG on freedom of expression: "Winkeladvokat" is not necessarily offensive . In: Legal Online Tribune , August 9, 2013. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
- ↑ Hans Georg Frank: Federal Constitutional Court Karlsruhe: "Winkeladvokat" is exempt from punishment . In: Schwäbisches Tageblatt , August 10, 2013. Accessed on August 12, 2013.
- ↑ "Angular advocate" does not have to be an abuse . In: Sächsische Zeitung , August 9, 2013. Archived from the original on September 14, 2013. Retrieved on August 12, 2013.
- ↑ Jochen Leffers: Dispute among lawyers: "Winkeladvokat" falls under freedom of expression . In: Spiegel Online , August 10, 2013. Accessed August 12, 2013.
- ↑ Simone Rücker: Legal advice: Legal advice from 1919–1945 and the emergence of the Legal Advice Abuse Act of 1935 , Mohr Siebeck, 2006, p. 162.
- ↑ Legal Advice Act.info: On the history of the history of the law for the prevention of abuse in the field of legal advice of December 13, 1935 ( Memento of the original of January 13, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
