Judiciary of Bexar

The Bexaran legal system is a civil law based on a comprehensive compendium of statutes, inherited from the former Republic of Prussia. Bexar uses an inquisitorial system where the judges are actively involved in investigating the facts of the case, as compared to an adversarial system where the role of the judge is primarily that of an impartial referee between the prosecutor and the defendant.

The independence of the judiciary of Bexar is guaranteed under the Constitution, the organisation of courts is traditionally strong, and almost all state actions are subject to judicial review.

Judges follow a distinct career path. At the end of their legal education at university, all law students must pass a state examination before they can continue on to an apprenticeship that provides them with broad training in the legal profession over two years. They then must pass a second state examination that qualifies them to practice law. At that point, the individual can choose either to be a lawyer or to enter the judiciary. Judicial candidates start working at courts immediately, however they are subjected to a probationary period of up to five years before being appointed as judges for lifetime.

Court Organisation
There are 3 types of court in the Judicial system:

Oberlandesgericht (State High Court and Court of Appeal) The Oberlandesgericht is the highest trial court in Bexar, and is also the highest court of appeal. The bench consists of 5 senior judges, and deals with serious political crimes such as Treason.

Landgericht (State Court) Tha Landgericht is the second level of trial court, and also serves as the Appeal court for the lower courts. The bench comprises of 3 judges and the court deals with some felonies and special less serious crimes or cases in which the sentence is expected to exceed four years, minor political or economic crimes, and an exhaustive list of serious felonies and all felonies resulting in death.

There are 5 Landgerichte, one for each Reg.-Bez.

Amtsgerichte (County Court) The Amtsgericht is the lowest trial court in Bexar. There is one Amtsgericht serving each Kommende. The bench consists of a single judge, and hears criminal offences in which the sentence is less than two years, small civil suits, and routine legal functions and criminal cases in which the sentence is a minimum of one year (Verbrechen) or is expected to be between two and four years, including those with special circumstances.

Officers of the Court
Professional Judges The independence of the judiciary that is laid down in the constitution. Article 8 para. 1 only refers to the judicial decision-making process of any individual judge, not to the judicial power as a whole. In line with this, the courts are administrative bodies subordinate to the Ministry of Justice, special rules only applying to the judicial decision-making process and the status of the judges.

All professional judges are compose a common corps in that they are recruited through a common process and their career is governed largely by state law. However, judges are also state civil servants and follow state rules on legal education, appointment, and promotion

Prosecutors (Staatsanwalte) Public prosecutors, although equally paid as judges, do not enjoy judicial independence and legally are ordinary civil servants.

Defence Counselors (Strafverteidiger) A lawyer can only act as defense counsel if they fulfill the aptitude criteria for judges. Defense counsel are grouped in divisions of the bar association, wherein membership is mandatory.

Penal Code
The Penal Code (Strafgesetzbuch) is a document which compiles all of Bexar's criminal law. The penal code will contain offences which are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties which might be imposed for these offences and some general provisions (such as definitions and prohibitions on retroactive prosecution).

The code consists of two main parts:

General Part ("Allgemeiner Teil"): in which general issues are arranged, for example:


 * Area of the law's validity
 * Law-related definitions
 * Capacity to be adjudged guilty
 * Perpetration and incitement or accessoryship
 * Necessary Defence
 * General provisions for punishments (fines and imprisonment)
 * Statutes of limitations
 * Attempts

Special Part ("Besonderer Teil"): in which the different criminal offences and their definitions and punishments are listed, for example:


 * Crimes against the democratic rule of law
 * Crimes against public order
 * Crimes against the person of a sexual nature
 * Crimes against life
 * Crimes against another person's wealth (for example robbery and theft)

Punishments are a combination of fines and periods of incarceration, the amount and length of which depends on the crime committed.

Links

 * Bexar