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An ''Amtsgericht'' (District Court) in Germany is an official
court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...
. These courts form the lowest level of the ' ordinary jurisdiction' of the German judiciary (German ''Ordentliche Gerichtsbarkeit''), which is responsible for most criminal and civil judicial matters. The German ''Amtsgericht'' may be compared to the
magistrates' courts A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) * Magistrates' court ...
in
England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...
, although it has much broader sentencing powers. Its name derives from the '' Amt'' as a denomination for an administrative and court district in many of the territories of the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
. The main areas of an ''Amtsgericht's''
jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...
are: * court of first instance for civil case where the subject of litigation is worth €5,000 or less, and for litigation involving rental agreements, marriages, alimony and child custody. * court of first instance for criminal cases where no more than four years imprisonment is expected. Several exceptions exist, such as all homicide. * administration of several public registers such as the companies', the associations', the cooperatives' and the land ownership register. In criminal cases, the court may be composed of either one professional judge, where the expected sentence is not more than two years imprisonment, or 1-2 professional judges and 2 lay judges where the expected sentence is more than two years imprisonment. A single judge is still able to impose up to four years imprisonment. There are 640 ''Amtsgerichte'' in Germany, whose jurisdictional area typically comprises a small number of towns or municipalities. The next higher level of ordinary jurisdiction is called the '' Landgericht''. The term ''Amtsgericht'' may also refer to the building where the proceedings take place.


References

District courts of Germany {{Germany-law-stub