It is my conviction that the proposed decree of the Fuehrer will have the same fate as the measures whose execution remained with the administration of justice.
It must be expected that the presidents of the courts of appeal will shrink from an intervention into the independence of the judge, of which they still have the old conception. They will bring the judge concerned on to the right path, not so much guided by their own conviction, but in order to get him to pass a sentence which will satisfy the threatening criticism. Even less, however, can one expect, for the same reason, more rigorously enhanced measures against an obstinate or incapable judge. Therefore, we must not expect the elucidating and guiding decisions hoped for in the material and personal field, the value of which lies first of all in the educational influence on other judges and on the public, but only measures or indications limited to individual cases.
In a formal respect, the following misgiving should be stressed: With the wording provided under paragraphs I and II of the draft, the Fuehrer literally deprives himself to a vast extent of the right of correcting sentences. In all cases which are brought to the Fuehrer’s knowledge only after the president of the court of appeal or the Minister of Justice has decided on the confirmation of a sentence, this decision was taken “by order of the Fuehrer.” Even with regard to the authorization by the Reichstag there would not be any room for the Fuehrer’s decision, since by the proposed decree he would have renounced the authorization legally assigned to him, in favor of the Minister of Justice or even of the president of the court of appeal.
Because of these considerations I am not able to agree with the draft of a Fuehrer decree as suggested by Under Secretary Schlegelberger.
In view of the importance which I assign to these fundamental objections, I have refrained for the time being from showing the additional objections I have to the structure of the decree and its individual provisions.
Heil Hitler!
Yours very truly
[Signed] M. Bormann
[Typed] (M. Bormann)
1. During yesterday’s conference with Under Secretary Schlegelberger I informed him of the basic ideas in Reichsleiter Bormann’s letter dated 10 June 1942. Schlegelberger would appreciate a copy of this letter. I do not think that there are objections to this. However, I wish to answer Reichsleiter Bormann’s letter and perhaps make my reply available to State Secretary Schlegelberger.