Questions of criminal procedure are regulated by the Code of Criminal Procedure of February, 1877; matters of jurisdiction and of court organization are prescribed in the General Judicature Act of January, 1877.
Under both the German Empire and the Weimar Republic, the authority to appoint judges and prosecutors and the power to execute sentences were jealously guarded prerogatives of the individual German states. The Reich Ministry of Justice, therefore, remained predominantly a ministry of federal legislation. The anomaly of a highly unified federal law, as contrasted with a court system administered by the individual states, endured until after the advent of Hitler.
In spite of the fact that the authority for supervision and appointment of judges rested with the numerous states, the German court system was well organized and highly unified before Hitler came to power. The basis of the court system was the local courts (Amtsgerichte), of which there were over 2,000, which had original jurisdiction over minor civil suits and over the less serious criminal offenses (“delicts” and “contraventions”). Original jurisdiction in the more important civil and criminal cases was exercised by the district courts (Landgerichte), of which there were some 180.
The principal appellate courts in Germany were called the district courts of appeal (Oberlandesgerichte). Of those there were 26, or generally one to each state and province.[12] The district courts of appeal entertained civil appeals from all decisions of the local and district courts, and second criminal appeals from cases originally heard in the local courts. The president of the district court of appeals (Oberlandesgerichtspraesident) was also the administrative head of all the courts in his district.
The Supreme Court of the Reich (Reichsgericht) in Leipzig formed the apex of the judicial pyramid. It determined important legal questions involving the interpretation of Reich laws, and entertained appeals from the decisions of the district courts of appeal and from criminal cases originally heard in the district courts. It was also the court of first and last instance for important treason cases.
The judges of the Reich Supreme Court were appointed by the President of the Reich. The judges of the lower courts were appointed by the respective state governments. Before the advent of national socialism, a judge could not be removed by the government, but only by formal action before a disciplinary court composed of his peers. This security of tenure was guaranteed by articles 102 and 104 of the Weimar constitution.
JUDICIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE THIRD REICH
The impact of Hitler’s seizure of power on the German judicial system was swift and drastic. The Enabling Law of 24 March 1933 authorized the executive to issue decrees with the force of law and provided that these “decree laws” could deviate from the Weimar constitution, the civil rights provision of which had already been suspended by a decree of 28 February 1933. For practical purposes, therefore, legislative and executive powers were merged in Hitler’s cabinet, and the constitution was robbed of all practical effect.
In 1934, the administration of justice was taken entirely out of the hands of the German states and was concentrated exclusively in the government of the Reich. The first law for the transfer of the administration of justice to the Reich was proclaimed 16 February 1934; it provided that thereafter all courts should pronounce judgment in the name of the German people, vested in the President of the Reich all clemency powers formerly held by the states, and authorized the Reich Minister of Justice to issue regulations for the transfer of the administration of justice to the Reich. This general directive was put into execution by the second and third laws for the transfer of the administration of justice to the Reich, promulgated in December 1934 and January 1935, respectively. The Justice Ministries of the several states were thereby abolished, and all their functions and powers were concentrated in the Reich Ministry of Justice, which became the supreme judicial authority, under Hitler, in the Reich. Hitler had already proclaimed himself the “Supreme Law Lord of the German people” in his speech to the Reichstag defending the killings which occurred during the suppression of the Roehm putsch.[13]
1. The Reich Ministry of Justice (Reichsjustizministerium)—The centralization of the German administration of justice brought about, of course, a great increase in the scope and functions of the Reich Ministry of Justice. Its more important divisions are shown in the composite chart on the wall of the courtroom; a more detailed chart of the Ministry alone is included in the expository brief.