On a Thursday in January, Werner König sits with a steady gaze in the judges’ gallery of the C017 jury court room at the Würzburg district court. And look at the man who has just been sentenced to eight years in prison with his involvement. König is a trained locksmith, he has no legal training. And yet the 69-year-old plays a key role at the district court: the king is a lay judge and represents the people in whose name the judgment is made.
“All state power emanates from the people. It is exercised by the people in elections and votes and through special organs (…) of the judiciary.” It says so in the German Basic Law. The Bavarian constitution also states: “Men and women from the people should participate in the administration of justice.” The people, so the idea, should get an insight into the judicial system.
Lay judges have the same status as professional judges when making decisions
“Over there is my regular place,” says Werner König, who comes from Erlenbach near Marktheidenfeld (district Main-Spessart), a few days after the verdict was announced in the courtroom and points to the judges’ gallery. In recent years he has often sat there, judging drug dealers and violent criminals. And also about the 43-year-old who set fire to a family’s house in Zell in August 2022.
It was a complex case, says König. As a person, he was very touched by the fate of the family. As a judge, however, he had to carefully consider what information he would use when convicting and sentencing an accused. It’s not always self-explanatory.
According to the German Courts Constitution Act, lay judges have the same status as professional judges: their vote decides on guilt and innocence – and on the sentence. Lay judges can overrule a judge or block a verdict if they agree. In the criminal chambers, which consist of professional judges and lay judges, they have to come to an agreement before judgments are passed. Small chambers with one judge and two lay judges decide on appeals against judgments of the district courts. Large Trial Chambers are composed of two or three judges and two lay judges. They decide on serious crimes in the first instance and on appeals against judgments of a juvenile court, where lay judges are also used.
This is how an experienced criminal defense lawyer from Würzburg looks at the jury office
This has an impact on the way processes are conducted, says Heinz Kracht, Vice President of the Bar Association for Upper and Lower Franconia. “For us defenders, it’s important to explicitly address the lay judges,” says Kracht. Because of their real-life experience, lay judges are receptive to some messages in a different way.
“I think that this variety of people from the common people makes sense, not only to find a legally tenable, but also a fair judgment,” says the Würzburg criminal defense lawyer. Since many lay judges are older, they have had experiences that come close to the reality of their clients’ lives. And which can often be addressed well with emotional arguments.
Würzburg public prosecutor: Some lawyers specifically plead for lay judges
“I’ve already seen lawyers specifically plead for lay judges,” says senior public prosecutor Tobias Kostuch, who took on the charge in the arsonist trial and can look back on his own experience as a judge. The public prosecutor’s office is also not completely unfamiliar with this, for example the tragic consequences of a crime are sometimes deliberately addressed in pleadings.
This is also the case in the proceedings against the arsonist from Zell: “The victims are economically on the brink of collapse,” Kostuch said in the direction of the judges’ bench. The defense attorney had not skimped on emotions either and addressed the disappointment of the defendant, who was not allowed to go on vacation with their son and therefore set fire to the house of the ex-partner’s family. As a layman, how do you deal with such considerations?
Are aldermen unsuspecting laypersons who allow themselves to be emotionally manipulated?
“With this act, he completely ruined the family financially,” says König about the convict and the lack of fire protection insurance. “But I can’t hold that against him because he couldn’t have known.” He learned how to weigh such facts during a voluntary further training course for lay judges at the Frankenwarte.
To his disappointment, only very few of the hundreds of lay judges in the Würzburg region took part. According to experience, according to König, only a few made use of their right to ask questions during the hearings or actually discussed with professional judges before judgments were passed.
Are lay judges therefore legal uncertainties, unsuspecting laymen who allow themselves to be emotionally manipulated by the defense and the public prosecutor’s office? Or willing assistants to professional judges? Neither, says Johannes Ebert, President of the Würzburg Regional Court.
President of the Würzburg Regional Court: Lay judges are invaluable
“Layers are invaluable to our judiciary,” says Ebert. The court president is convinced that professional judges, defense lawyers and public prosecutors bring the expertise to the courtroom. Lay judges, on the other hand, bring life experience with them, which is no less important in finding fair judgments.
The legal professionals are sometimes so caught up in precise case law that they fail to see the big picture. In addition, younger judges cannot draw on the same wealth of experience as senior citizens who have worked outside the courtroom all their lives: “Some lay judges have experienced a lot,” says Ebert. “It could be, for example, that someone says that you have to be tougher on a violent offender.” In other cases, lay judges bring the necessary composure.
Alderman Werner König, whose second five-year term of office is coming to an end this year, also speaks of composure. In all his proceedings, he “very rarely encountered a fundamentally evil person,” says the 69-year-old. Dealing with all the acts of violence and strokes of fate is not always easy. Nevertheless, he can unreservedly recommend working as a lay judge – to anyone who has an interest in society. “Take courage and just do it. It’s not called ‘in the name of the people’ for nothing.”
Urgently wanted judges
Which: ron
