In German towns, the sidewalk in front of a house becomes the owner’s responsibility in winter. The towns pass the duty to keep it safe to the owners by local statute. Owners must clear the snow and spread grit, typically from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday to Saturday. An owner can pass the duty on to the tenants, but only with a clear clause in the lease. A notice in the stairwell is not enough. If someone falls on a sidewalk that was not cleared, the person who had the duty pays damages and compensation for pain and suffering.
law
The Judge Assigned in Advance
Article 101 of the Basic Law says: Niemand darf seinem gesetzlichen Richter entzogen werden. No one may be removed from his lawful judge. In practice, the presiding committee of each court distributes the cases in a plan, the Geschäftsverteilungsplan. It makes this plan before the business year begins, for the whole year. The plan may be changed during the year only for narrow reasons, such as a judge who is overloaded. The judge for a case is therefore fixed in advance by a general rule.
Applications Sent to the Wrong Office
German social law has a rule for the citizen who asks the wrong office. Under § 16 of the First Book of the Social Code, an application filed with an authority that is not responsible, an unzuständig authority, must be passed on to the responsible one unverzüglich, without delay. Since April 2011, the public service number 115 has answered questions about dealings with the authorities. Its promise is that it does not matter welche Behörde, Verwaltungsebene oder Zuständigkeit betroffen ist, which authority, level of government or area of responsibility is involved.
The Superior Answers for His Orders
Section 10 of the German Soldiers’ Act, the Soldatengesetz, sets out the duties of a superior. Er hat die Pflicht zur Dienstaufsicht und ist für die Disziplin seiner Untergebenen verantwortlich. He has a duty of supervision and is responsible for the discipline of his subordinates. Later in the section, the law adds one short sentence: Er trägt für seine Befehle die Verantwortung. He bears the responsibility for his orders.
Board Portfolios
Under § 77 of the German Stock Corporation Act, the members of a management board run the company together: sämtliche Vorstandsmitglieder nur gemeinschaftlich. The articles or the board’s own rules may provide otherwise, and in practice they assign portfolios to individual members. The member who holds a portfolio is then fully liable for the decisions in it.
The other members keep their part. In the words of one law firm, the principle of overall responsibility nicht durchbrochen, sondern vielmehr modifiziert, is not broken but rather modified.
Love Parade Duisburg
On July 24, 2010, 21 people died in a crowd crush at the Love Parade in Duisburg. Afterward, the city, the organizer and the police blamed one another. The head of the state police of North Rhine-Westphalia said at a press conference: Der Veranstalter und nur der Veranstalter war für die Sicherheit der Menschen auf dem Veranstaltungsgelände zuständig. The organizer, and only the organizer, was responsible for the safety of the people on the site. An interim report by lawyers commissioned by the city concluded, provisionally, that the city had not been responsible for safety on the site. The trial began on December 8, 2017, at the regional court in Duisburg. On May 4, 2020, the proceedings against the last three defendants were discontinued, partly because of the restrictions expected from the Corona crisis. The trial ended without a verdict.
Without Regard to the Person
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.
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.