The following year, the People’s Court (Volksgerichtshof) was established by the law of 24 April 1934.[118] The People’s Court tried cases of treason, which were withdrawn from the jurisdiction of the Reich Supreme Court. During the following years, the jurisdiction of the People’s Court was vastly increased by the expanded concept of treason.
The People’s Court sat in six divisions, or “senates”; later on, a “special senate” was created to retry cases where, in the judgment of the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Reich, an insufficient punishment had been imposed. Ordinarily a senate of the People’s Court was composed of five judges, of whom two were professional judges and the other three were laymen specially appointed from the SS, the armed forces, and the Nazi Party hierarchy. There was no appeal from decisions of the People’s Court.
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Other special tribunals established under the third Reich included the “hereditary health courts”[119] (Erbgesundheitsgerichte) and in 1945, emergency civilian “courts martial”[120] (Standgerichte) in those parts of Germany which were near the front lines.
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REGULAR AND EXTRAORDINARY COURTS OF THE THIRD REICH
+------+ |HITLER| +------+ . +---------------------------+ | REICH MINISTRY OF JUSTICE |............ | THE MINISTER | . +---------------------------+ . | THE UNDER SECRETARY | . +---------------------------+ . | DEPT. III DEPT. IV | . | (_Combined in 1944_) | . +---------------------------+ . . . ......................... . . . . +-------------+ +---+----------------+---+ . |REICH SUPREME| | | PEOPLE’S COURT | | . +--| COURT | | | (BERLIN) | | REICH DEFENSE | | (LEIPZIG) | | +---+--------+---+ | COMMISSARS OR | +-------------+ | | SPECIAL| | GAULEITER | | . | | SENATE | | . | | . +-------+--------+-------+ . CRIMINAL | . | 1st | 2d | 3d | . APPEALS | . |SENATE | SENATE | SENATE| . AFTER | . +-------+--------+-------+ . 1939 | . | 4th | 5th | 6th | . | | . |SENATE | SENATE | SENATE| . | | . +-------+--------+-------+ . | | . . | | ..................... . | | . . | +------------------+ +------------------+ +-----------------+ | | DISTRICT COURTS | | SPECIAL COURTS | | CIVIL COURTS | | | OF APPEAL | |(_At least one in_| | MARTIAL | | |(_At least one in_| | _each province_) | |After February | | |_each province_) | | | |1945, created | | +------------------+ |Criminal | |wherever needed | | | Civil Chamber | |jurisdiction | |using one | | +------------------+ |_only_; first | |criminal court | | |_Criminal_ appeals| |and last instance.| |judge and a Reich| | |from District | +------------------+ |prosecutor. | | |Courts, and | +-----------------+ | |clemency or | | |nullity pleas | | |from Special | | |Courts, went | +--------------------+ | |directly to | |APPELLATE HEREDITARY| | |Supreme Court | | HEALTH COURTS | | |after 1939. In | +--------------------+ | |1944 _all_ | | | |judicial | | | |functions of | SINGLE APPEAL | |these Courts | | |were eliminated. | | | +------------------+ | | | | | | | | +------------------+ +--------------------+ | | DISTRICT COURTS | |MUNICIPAL HEREDITARY| | +------------------+ | HEALTH COURTS | +-| CRIMINAL CHAMBER | +--------------------+ +------------------+ | CIVIL CHAMBER | +------------------+ | | +------------------+ | MUNICIPAL COURTS | | | NOTE: | Single Chambers | _Solid_ connecting lines show existence | for minor civil | and direction of appeal. | and criminal | _Dotted_ connecting lines show review | matters. | channels for clemency and nullity +------------------+ pleas (no appeal).
CHART SHOWING POSITIONS OF THE DEFENDANTS AND OTHERS IN THE REICH MINISTRY OF JUSTICE AND THE GERMAN JUDICIAL SYSTEM UNDER HITLER[121]
