- TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NG-478
- PROSECUTION EXHIBIT 61
LETTER FROM THIERACK, REICH MINISTER OF JUSTICE, TO PRESIDENTS OF COURTS OF APPEAL, 5 JULY 1943, DISCUSSING DEVELOPMENT AND EFFECTIVENESS OF SPECIAL COURTS AND PROPOSING LIMITATIONS ON THEIR JURISDICTION
The Reich Minister of Justice
3234-IVa 4 877/43
- Berlin W 8, 5 July 1943
- Wilhelmstrasse 65
- Telephone:
- Local calls 11 00 44
- Long distance 11 65 16
[Stamp] Court of Appeal Cologne 26 July 1943
To: The Presidents of Courts of Appeal and the Generalstaatsanwaelte
Subject: Relief of the Special Courts
The following has been discussed here:
Special Courts were established by the decree of 21 March 1933[128] as a keen weapon for the conviction of political criminals. Their jurisdiction was initially limited to crimes and delicts as defined by the decree of the Reich President concerning the protection of people and State[129] as well as in the Heimtueckegesetz.[130] By the decree on the extended jurisdiction of the Special Courts as of December 1934 and through a series of subsequent laws the functions of the Special Courts were steadily increased. The decree of 20 November 1938 then made it possible to bring before the Special Court such cases in which immediate action by this court seemed necessary in view of the gravity and the wickedness of the act or of the excitement aroused in public. After the outbreak of the war, by the decree of 21 February 1940 concerning court jurisdiction there was established exclusive jurisdiction of the Special Court for a series of offenses, in particular for crimes and transgressions covered by the war economy decree. Thus, the amount of work accruing to the Special Courts increased extraordinarily during the last years, especially during the war. Practically all somewhat important criminal cases are now under the jurisdiction of the Special Court.