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Federal Court of Justice
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Federal Court of Justice
The Federal Court of Justice (German: Bundesgerichtshof [bʊndəsɡəˈʁɪçtsˌhoːf] ⓘ, BGH [beːɡeːˈhaː] ⓘ) is the highest court of civil and criminal jurisdiction in Germany. Its primary responsibility is the final appellate review of decisions by lower courts for errors of law. While, legally, a decision by the Federal Court of Justice is only binding with respect to the individual case in which it enters, de facto the court's interpretation of the law is followed by lower courts with almost no exception. Decisions handed down by the Federal Court of Justice can only be vacated by the Federal Constitutional Court for violating a provision of the German constitution, the Basic Law.
In addition to the court's appellate duties, a few judges of the Federal Court of Justice act as investigating judges in criminal investigations led by the Public Prosecutor General for a small number of exceptional offenses (such as crimes against humanity and the formation of terrorist organisations). As such, they are responsible for issuing search and arrest warrants, among other things.
The German legal order has different supreme courts for the different branches of its judiciary. The four sister supreme courts of the Federal Court of Justice are the Federal Administrative Court (for administrative matters), the Federal Fiscal Court (for tax matters), the Federal Labor Court (for matters of labour law), and the Federal Social Court (for social security matters).
The seat of the Federal Court of Justice is in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg. Two criminal divisions of the court are based in Leipzig, Saxony.
The Reichskammergericht, which was established in 1495 as the highest court of the Holy Roman Empire, is often viewed as the institutional origin of supreme court jurisprudence in Germany. The court arose out of an attempt by the Imperial Estates to counter the influence of the Emperor, which led to the somewhat unusual circumstance of the coexistence of two supreme courts with concurrent jurisdiction over most matters. The emperor's own Aulic Council (Reichshofrat) in Vienna had sole jurisdiction over criminal cases, however.
As the Empire was dissolved in 1806, so were the two supreme courts. What ensued was a prolonged period of judicial independence of the dozens of newly-sovereign German states within the German Confederation. In the states of central and northern Germany, this changed following the foundation of the North German Confederation, where the Leipzig-based Bundesoberhandelsgericht commenced operation in August 1870. In the beginning, the court's supreme appellate jurisdiction was largely limited to trade law matters, but after the southern German states joined the Confederation in November 1870 to form the German Empire, the court—now known as Reichsoberhandelsgericht—received jurisdiction over various additional areas of civil law.
In 1879, the Reichsoberhandelsgericht was replaced with the Reichsgericht. Also located in Leipzig, the Reichsgericht enjoyed far broader supreme appellate jurisdiction than its predecessors, encompassing all civil and criminal matters arising in the Empire. The enactment of a unified Imperial Penal Code in 1872 added to the significance of the court. In the wake of Germany's defeat in World War II, the Reichsgericht, like all German courts, was closed, and its administration subsequently dismantled, by proclamation of General Eisenhower of the United States Army on 18 April 1945.
In the British occupation zone, the Supreme Court for the British Zone (Oberster Gerichtshof für die Britische Zone) came into operation in 1948. The court was tasked with ensuring the uniform jurisprudence within the zone; to that end, its scope of jurisdiction and its procedural rules largely followed the example of the Reichsgericht. The foundation of the Bizonal Economic Council by the British and the Americans also led to the establishment of a German High Court for the Combined Economic Area (Deutsches Obergericht für das Vereinigte Wirtschaftsgebiet) with supreme appellate jurisdiction over matters of the public and private economic law created through Bizonal legislation.
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Federal Court of Justice
The Federal Court of Justice (German: Bundesgerichtshof [bʊndəsɡəˈʁɪçtsˌhoːf] ⓘ, BGH [beːɡeːˈhaː] ⓘ) is the highest court of civil and criminal jurisdiction in Germany. Its primary responsibility is the final appellate review of decisions by lower courts for errors of law. While, legally, a decision by the Federal Court of Justice is only binding with respect to the individual case in which it enters, de facto the court's interpretation of the law is followed by lower courts with almost no exception. Decisions handed down by the Federal Court of Justice can only be vacated by the Federal Constitutional Court for violating a provision of the German constitution, the Basic Law.
In addition to the court's appellate duties, a few judges of the Federal Court of Justice act as investigating judges in criminal investigations led by the Public Prosecutor General for a small number of exceptional offenses (such as crimes against humanity and the formation of terrorist organisations). As such, they are responsible for issuing search and arrest warrants, among other things.
The German legal order has different supreme courts for the different branches of its judiciary. The four sister supreme courts of the Federal Court of Justice are the Federal Administrative Court (for administrative matters), the Federal Fiscal Court (for tax matters), the Federal Labor Court (for matters of labour law), and the Federal Social Court (for social security matters).
The seat of the Federal Court of Justice is in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg. Two criminal divisions of the court are based in Leipzig, Saxony.
The Reichskammergericht, which was established in 1495 as the highest court of the Holy Roman Empire, is often viewed as the institutional origin of supreme court jurisprudence in Germany. The court arose out of an attempt by the Imperial Estates to counter the influence of the Emperor, which led to the somewhat unusual circumstance of the coexistence of two supreme courts with concurrent jurisdiction over most matters. The emperor's own Aulic Council (Reichshofrat) in Vienna had sole jurisdiction over criminal cases, however.
As the Empire was dissolved in 1806, so were the two supreme courts. What ensued was a prolonged period of judicial independence of the dozens of newly-sovereign German states within the German Confederation. In the states of central and northern Germany, this changed following the foundation of the North German Confederation, where the Leipzig-based Bundesoberhandelsgericht commenced operation in August 1870. In the beginning, the court's supreme appellate jurisdiction was largely limited to trade law matters, but after the southern German states joined the Confederation in November 1870 to form the German Empire, the court—now known as Reichsoberhandelsgericht—received jurisdiction over various additional areas of civil law.
In 1879, the Reichsoberhandelsgericht was replaced with the Reichsgericht. Also located in Leipzig, the Reichsgericht enjoyed far broader supreme appellate jurisdiction than its predecessors, encompassing all civil and criminal matters arising in the Empire. The enactment of a unified Imperial Penal Code in 1872 added to the significance of the court. In the wake of Germany's defeat in World War II, the Reichsgericht, like all German courts, was closed, and its administration subsequently dismantled, by proclamation of General Eisenhower of the United States Army on 18 April 1945.
In the British occupation zone, the Supreme Court for the British Zone (Oberster Gerichtshof für die Britische Zone) came into operation in 1948. The court was tasked with ensuring the uniform jurisprudence within the zone; to that end, its scope of jurisdiction and its procedural rules largely followed the example of the Reichsgericht. The foundation of the Bizonal Economic Council by the British and the Americans also led to the establishment of a German High Court for the Combined Economic Area (Deutsches Obergericht für das Vereinigte Wirtschaftsgebiet) with supreme appellate jurisdiction over matters of the public and private economic law created through Bizonal legislation.
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