“VIII. * * * (2) During the preliminary inquiry, the State prosecutor may order the arrest and any other coercive measures permissible.
“IX. Poles and Jews are not sworn in as witnesses in criminal proceedings. If the unsworn deposition made by them before the court is found false, the provisions as prescribed for perjury and false statements shall be applied accordingly.
“X. (1) Only the State prosecutor may apply for the reopening of a case. In a case tried before a Special Court, the decision concerning an application for the reopening of the proceedings rests with this court.
“(2) The right to lodge a plea of nullity rests with the State prosecutor general. The decision on the plea rests with the court of appeal.
“XI. Poles and Jews are not entitled to act as prosecutors either in a principal or a subsidiary capacity.
“XII. The court and the State prosecutor shall conduct proceedings within their discretion and according to the principles of the German law of procedure. They may, however, deviate from the provisions of the German law on the organization of courts and on criminal procedure, whenever this may appear to them advisable for the rapid and more efficient conduct of proceedings.
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“XV. Within the meaning of this decree, the term ‘Poles’ includes ‘Schutzangehoerige’ or those who are stateless.”[629]
It will be noted that the procedural rules became progressively more summary and severe as the military situation became progressively more critical.
A major development in the Nazification of the judicial system appears in the establishment of the “People’s Court” which was subdivided into a number of senates or departments. We quote: