Abstract
With its career justices, Germany is often criticized for its lack of self-administration of the judiciary. This is because judges are, as a rule, appointed by the government—even if at times a parliamentary committee is involved in selecting candidates. In assessing the German system, however, it is often overlooked that career decisions are subject to tight judicial review. The article explains how this system developed. It provides an overview of the procedure, summarizes the criteria for judicial review, and details how according to constitutional requirements competing candidates have to be assessed and compared. The article also discusses leading cases of this system, reviewing their facts, and showing their application. As such, it is a small study of how case law can work in a continental legal system.
Highlights
The article explains how this system developed
Positions for higher judicial office in the Länder are made public by position advertisements in official gazettes
It will communicate its view to the relevant presidential council; a professional body of judges elected by their peers
Summary
Germany is often criticized for its lack of self-administration of the judiciary. This guarantees equal access to judicial office for all citizens It follows from this that for initial appointments and especially for decisions on promotions for civil servants and judges, assessment and evaluation systems have to be employed.. Countries that are criticized for not sufficiently observing the independence of the judiciary point to these presumed deficiencies in Germany.7 In this approach, several aspects of the German system which are designed to safeguard judicial independence and self-administration of the judiciary are often overlooked.. 4, Grundgesetz which guarantees that a person who claims their rights have been violated by a public authority may have recourse to the courts It follows from this that applicants who think they, rather than a competitor, should be promoted may request formal judicial review
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