An ''Oberlandesgericht'' (plural – ''Oberlandesgerichte''; OLG, en, Higher Regional Court, or in Berlin '' Kammergericht'': KG) is a higher court in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. There are 24 OLGs in Germany and they deal with civil and criminal matters. They are positioned above state courts ( ''Landgerichte'') and below the

Federal Court of Justice The Federal Court of Justice (german: Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) is the highest court in the system of ordinary jurisdiction (''ordentliche Gerichtsbarkeit'') in Germany, founded in 1950. It has its seat in Karlsruhe with two panels being situat ...

(''Bundesgerichtshof''), in family and child law above the district courts (''

Amtsgericht An ''Amtsgericht'' (District Court) in Germany is an official court. These courts form the lowest level of the so-called 'ordinary jurisdiction' of the German judiciary (German ''Ordentliche Gerichtsbarkeit''), which is responsible for most cri ...

'') and below the Federal Court of Justice. In the ''Oberlandesgerichte'', the offices of the ''Generalstaatsanwaltschaft'' or district attorney general are located. In criminal cases that are under primary jurisdiction of the Federal Court of Justice (i.e., cases concerning national security), the Oberlandesgerichte act as branches of the Federal Court of Justice, that is, as "lower federal courts" (''Untere Bundesgerichte''). As pe
§ 120
, OLGs have

original jurisdiction In common law legal systems original jurisdiction of a court is the power to hear a case for the first time, as opposed to appellate jurisdiction, when a higher court has the power to review a lower court's decision. India In India, the S ...

(''Erstinstanz'') over crimes against public international law under the

Völkerstrafgesetzbuch The ''Völkerstrafgesetzbuch'' (, "Code of Crimes against International Law"), abbreviated ''VStGB'', is a German law that regulates crimes against (public) international law. It allows cases to be brought against suspects under international c ...

(

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Lat ...

, crimes against humanity, and war crimes). This includes trials under

universal jurisdiction Universal jurisdiction is a legal principle that allows states or international organizations to claim criminal jurisdiction over an accused person regardless of where the alleged crime was committed, and regardless of the accused's nationality, ...

(that were committed by non-Germans outside of Germany). The OLG Düsseldorf is one of the most popular patent trial forums for

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

ees in Europe.IPEG blog
''New president Patent Division Düsseldorf Appeal Court''
January 11, 2008. The ''Oberlandesgerichte'' were first set up in the German Empire by the Courts Constitution Act of 27 January 1877. In

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

, there had been ''Oberlandesgerichte'' as the higher provincial courts since 1808, known as ''Regierung'' from 1723 to 1808.

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{{Authority control Courts in Germany 1877 establishments in Germany 1808 establishments in Prussia Courts and tribunals established in 1877 Courts and tribunals established in 1808