The Emminger Decree or Emminger Reform (, ''Lex Emminger'', or '; formally the ' (''Court Organisation and Criminal Justice Regulations'')) was an emergency decree in the democratic

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

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, make Question of fact, findings of fact, and render an impartiality, impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty or Judgmen ...

trier of fact In law, a trier of fact or finder of fact is a person or group who determines disputed issues of fact 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 evide ...

and replaced it with a mixed system of

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

s and

lay judge A lay judge, sometimes called a lay assessor (law), assessor, is a person assisting a judge in a trial. Lay judges are used in some civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions. Lay judges are appointed volunteers and often require some legal ...

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

Swabia Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...

n ordinance of 1562 had also called for the summons of jurymen ('), and various methods were in use in

Emmendingen Emmendingen (; ) is a town in Baden-Württemberg, capital of the Emmendingen (district), district Emmendingen of Germany. It is located at the Elz (Rhine), Elz River, north of Freiburg im Breisgau. The town contains more than 26,000 residents, ...

Oppenau Oppenau () is a city located in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It has a population of 4,700 inhabitants. Geography Oppenau is situated in the Rench valley in the Black Forest. The nearest major cities are Offenburg and Freudenstadt. ...

, 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 The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

in 1786. The

Frankfurt Constitution The Frankfurt Constitution () or Constitution of St. Paul's Church (), officially named the Constitution of the German Empire () of 28 March 1849, was an unsuccessful attempt to create a unified German nation from the states of the German Confe ...

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 revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

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 The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

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, Social Democratic Party (SPD) who served as the first President of Germany (1919–1945), president of Germany from 1919 until ...

signed the

Weimar Constitution The Constitution of the German Reich (), usually known as the Weimar Constitution (), was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic era. The constitution created a federal semi-presidential republic with a parliament whose ...

into law on 11 August 1919. On 11 January 1923, the Belgian and French Armies initiated the

Occupation of the Ruhr The occupation of the Ruhr () was the period from 11 January 1923 to 25 August 1925 when French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr region of Weimar Republic Germany. The occupation of the heavily industrialized Ruhr district came in respons ...

that would last until 25 August 1925, in response to the Weimar Republic's default on its

World War I reparations Following their defeat in World War I, the Central Powers agreed to pay war reparations to the Allied Powers. Each defeated power was required to make payments in either cash or kind. Because of the financial situation in Austria, Hungary, and ...

in the

aftermath of World War I The aftermath of World War I saw far-reaching and wide-ranging cultural, economic, and social change across Europe, Asia, Africa, and in areas outside those that were directly involved. Four empires collapsed due to the war, old countries were a ...

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

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Wilhelm Cuno Wilhelm Carl Josef Cuno (2 July 1876 – 3 January 1933) was a German businessman and politician who was the chancellor of Germany from 1922 to 1923 for a total of 264 days. His tenure included the beginning of the occupation of the Ruhr by ...

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

Article 48 Article 48 of the Weimar constitution, constitution of the Weimar Republic of Germany (1919–1933) allowed the President of Germany (1919–1945), Reich president, under certain circumstances, to take emergency measures without the prior consen ...

(of the

) state of emergency was proclaimed by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Ebert on 26 or 27 September 1923, lasting until February 1924, in tandem with the announcement by Chancellor

Gustav Stresemann Gustav Ernst Stresemann (; 10 May 1878 – 3 October 1929) was a German statesman during the Weimar Republic who served as Chancellor of Germany#First German Republic (Weimar Republic, 1919–1933), chancellor of Germany from August to November 1 ...

of the end to the resistance against the Occupation of the Ruhr.

Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic Hyperinflation affected the Papiermark, German Papiermark, the currency of the Weimar Republic, between 1921 and 1923, primarily in 1923. The German currency had seen significant inflation during the First World War due to the way in which the G ...

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) for the delegation of the legislative body's power to take certain actions. For example, enabling act ...

(') 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 Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

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

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 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

* * * * * * * * * *

External links

4 January 1924,

Reichsgesetzblatt The (; abbreviated RGBl.), was the government gazette of the German Reich from 1871 to 1945, thus covering the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, and Nazi Germany. All laws of the German Reich in a formal sense (i.e., all laws that have been ...