The Emminger Decree or Emminger Reform (german: Emminger Verordnung, ''Lex Emminger'', or '; formally the ') was an emergency decree in the democratic

Weimar Republic The German Reich, commonly referred to as the Weimar Republic,, was a historical period of Germany from 9 November 1918 to 23 March 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is also r ...

Justice Minister A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

Erich Emminger ( BVP) on 4 January 1924 that among other things abolished the

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartial verdict (a finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Juries developed in England du ...

trier of fact A trier of fact or finder of fact is a person or group who determines which facts are available in a legal proceeding (usually a trial) and how relevant they are to deciding its outcome. To determine a fact is to decide, from the evidence pre ...

and replaced it with a mixed system of judges and

lay judge A lay judge, sometimes called a lay assessor, is a person assisting a judge in a trial. Lay judges are used in some civil law jurisdictions. Lay judges are appointed volunteers and often require some legal instruction. However, they are not permane ...

s in Germany's judiciary which still exists today.

Background

The modern jury trial was first introduced in the Rhenish provinces in 1798, with a court consisting most commonly of 12 citizens ('). A Swabian ordinance of 1562 had also called for the summons of jurymen ('), and various methods were in use in Emmendingen, Oppenau, and Oberkirch. Hauenstein's charter of 1442 secured the right to be tried in all cases by 24 fellow equals, and in Friburg the jury was composed of 30 citizens and councilors. In Constance the jury trial was suppressed by decree of the Habsburg monarchy in 1786. The Frankfurt Constitution of the failed

Revolutions of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Euro ...

called for jury trials for "the more serious crimes and all political offenses" but was never implemented. Germany's system whereby citizens were tried by their peers chosen from the entire community in open court was gradually superseded by a system of professional judges, in which the process of investigation was more or less confidential and judgements were issued by judges appointed by the state. There was an 1873 proposal by the Prussian Ministry of Justice to abolish the jury and replace it with the mixed system. The jury system was implemented in the German Empire by the Gerichtsverfassungsgesetz (GVG) of 27 January 1877 with the jury court (') consisting of 3 judges and 12 jurymen. The

was created in 1919, when German Empire Chancellor

Friedrich Ebert Friedrich Ebert (; 4 February 187128 February 1925) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the first president of Germany from 1919 until his death in office in 1925. Ebert was elected leader of the SPD on ...

signed the Weimar Constitution into law on 11 August 1919. On 11 January 1923, the Belgian and

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...

initiated the

Occupation of the Ruhr The Occupation of the Ruhr (german: link=no, Ruhrbesetzung) was a period of military occupation of the Ruhr region of Germany by France and Belgium between 11 January 1923 and 25 August 1925. France and Belgium occupied the heavily indus ...

that would last until 25 August 1925, in response to the failure of the Weimar Republic to pay the

World War I reparations Following the ratification of article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles at the conclusion of World War I, the Central Powers were made to give war reparations to the Allied Powers. Each of the defeated powers was required to make payments in eit ...

in the

aftermath of World War I The aftermath of World War I saw drastic political, cultural, economic, and social change across Eurasia, Africa, and even in areas outside those that were directly involved. Four empires collapsed due to the war, old countries were abolished, ne ...

. In May 1923, Justice Minister Rudolf Heinze ( DVP) under

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Wilhelm Cuno attempted to replace the jury system with large lay judge (') courts but was defeated in the Reichstag. An

Article 48 Article 48 of the constitution of the Weimar Republic of Germany (1919–1933) allowed the President, under certain circumstances, to take emergency measures without the prior consent of the '' Reichstag''. This power was understood to include t ...

(of the Weimar Constitution) state of emergency was proclaimed by President Ebert on 26 or 27 September 1923, lasting until February 1924, in tandem with the announcement by Chancellor Gustav Stresemann of the end to the resistance against the Occupation of the Ruhr.

Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic Hyperinflation affected the German Papiermark, the currency of the Weimar Republic, between 1921 and 1923, primarily in 1923. It caused considerable internal political instability in the country, the occupation of the Ruhr by France and Belgium ...

would reach its peak in November 1923. On 8 December 1923, the Reichstag passed an

enabling act An enabling act is a piece of legislation by which a legislative body grants an entity which depends on it (for authorization or legitimacy) the power to take certain actions. For example, enabling acts often establish government agencies to c ...

(') empowering the government to take all measures it deemed necessary and urgent, with regard to the state of emergency, lasting until 15 February 1924. Acts passed pursuant to Article 48 emergencies and their enabling acts are referred to as ', or emergency decrees.

Abolition

On 4 January 1924,

Erich Emminger ( BVP) under Chancellor Wilhelm Marx ( Centre Party) issued the ' (Emminger Reform), which abolished juries in the ', replacing them with a mixed system of three professional judges and six lay judges, but kept the original name. The reform was presented as an emergency, money-saving measure in a period of acute financial stringency. Although a special meeting of the German Bar (') demanded the revocation of the decrees, and the Social Democrats called the reform a flagrant usurpation of the clearly expressed wishes of the Reichstag, the decrees did not cause much commotion.

Aftermath

The use of lay judges was completely eliminated on the first day of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, with the exception of the infamous People's Court. The jury system has never been reintroduced in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, but between 1948 and 1950, prior to the foundation of the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

returned to jury trial, as it had existed before the Emminger Decrees. In 1974 the number of lay judges in the ' was further reduced from six to two.

Notes

References

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External links