[Initial] Th [Thierack]
d. Chief Public Prosecutors in Hamm, Kiel, and Cologne
[Stamp] To files 9 February 1943
Subject: Crimes against the Reich or the occupying forces in occupied territory
The president of the Essen Special Court reports that in trials for the above-mentioned offenses, where a defense is necessary, because of the sentence which may be expected, it is often difficult to obtain counsel for the defense when [defendants who have confessed in cases where there is a collision of interest between the defendants][457] a defense counsel always has to be obtained. The requisite number of lawyers is not always obtainable, the course of the main proceedings is also frequently hampered by the inability of individual lawyers to appear.
I therefore propose to insert in No. 7 of the decree for the carrying out of the directives laid down by the Fuehrer and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of 7 December 1941 the following regulation, which is to be paragraph 2:
“In trials before the Sondergericht [Special Court] in which according to the regulations defense counsel has to be provided for the defendant, the regulation may be ignored when the president of the court can conscientiously state that the character of the accused and the nature of the charge make the presence of a defense counsel superfluous.”
Please comment as soon as possible.
By order:
[Department] IV