Every German judge swears an oath under § 38 of the German Judiciary Act. The judge promises to judge nach bestem Wissen und Gewissen ohne Ansehen der Person, to the best of knowledge and conscience, without regard to the person. The judge also promises to serve only truth and justice. The phrase is much older than the law. It is found in the Luther Bible. Romans 2:11 reads Denn es ist kein Ansehen der Person vor Gott, for there is no respect of persons with God. The First Letter of Peter speaks of a Father who judges each one nach seinem Werk, by his work.
Public Office by Merit
Article 33(2) of the German Basic Law reads: Jeder Deutsche hat nach seiner Eignung, Befähigung und fachlichen Leistung gleichen Zugang zu jedem öffentlichen Amte. Every German has equal access to every public office according to aptitude, qualification and professional performance. The constitution names three criteria for a public appointment. Who the candidate knows is not one of them.
No Judge in His Own Case
Section 41 of the German Code of Civil Procedure excludes a judge from a case kraft Gesetzes, by operation of law, when the judge is a party to it. The same rule applies when the case involves the judge’s spouse or close relatives. The judge does not decide whether to step aside. The law has already decided. German literature has a famous comedy on the opposite case. In Kleist’s Der zerbrochne Krug, the village judge Adam must try a case that he caused himself.
Ministers Who Lost Their Doctorates
On February 23, 2011, the University of Bayreuth withdrew the doctorate of Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg. He resigned on March 1, 2011. In May 2011, a university commission found that he had grossly violated the standards of good scientific practice and had deceived on purpose. In February 2013, a faculty council in Düsseldorf voted 12 to 2 that Education Minister Annette Schavan’s doctoral thesis was invalid, and she resigned. Family Minister Franziska Giffey resigned on May 19, 2021. On June 10, 2021, the Free University of Berlin withdrew her doctorate. Giffey later became Governing Mayor of Berlin.
A President Under Investigation
On February 16, 2012, the public prosecutor in Hanover asked for the immunity of Federal President Christian Wulff to be lifted. The suspicion was Vorteilsannahme, accepting benefits in office. Wulff resigned the next day. The Hanover regional court acquitted him on February 27, 2014.
The Club President in Prison
Uli Hoeneß was president of FC Bayern Munich, the most successful club in German football. In March 2014 he stood trial for tax evasion of 28.5 million euros. The court sentenced him to three years and six months. He stepped down as club president in March 2014. He began his prison sentence on June 2, 2014.
The Debt Brake Ruling
On November 15, 2023, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled on the Second Supplementary Budget Act 2021. The act had moved 60 billion euros of unused borrowing authority into a climate fund. The court declared the act unvereinbar und nichtig, incompatible with the Basic Law and void. The court measured the act against the Schuldenbremse, the debt brake written into the constitution.
Scripture or Clear Reason
At the Diet of Worms in April 1521, Martin Luther was asked to recant. He refused unless he was overcome durch Zeugnisse der Heiligen Schrift oder klare Vernunftgründe, by the testimony of Scripture or by clear reasons. He named the test that could change his mind.
The famous sentence Hier stehe ich, ich kann nicht anders, here I stand, I can do no other, was not spoken at Worms in these words. It comes from a printed pamphlet version of the speech, which reads Ich kann nicht anderst, hie stehe ich. Gott helf mir! Amen.
The Categorical Imperative
In 1785 Immanuel Kant published the Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten, the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. Its basic rule reads: Handle nur nach derjenigen Maxime, durch die du zugleich wollen kannst, dass sie ein allgemeines Gesetz werde. Act only according to that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it become a universal law.
Michael Kohlhaas
Heinrich von Kleist published the full novella Michael Kohlhaas in 1810. Its model was a real man, Hans Kohlhase. A horse dealer loses two of his horses to the injustice of a nobleman. He goes to court, fails, and then takes the law into his own hands. The first sentence calls him einer der rechtschaffensten zugleich und entsetzlichsten Menschen seiner Zeit, one of the most upright and at the same time most terrible men of his age. Then Kleist writes: Das Rechtgefühl aber machte ihn zum Räuber und Mörder. His sense of justice made him a robber and a murderer.