Oberlandesgericht

Oberlandesgericht

Oberlandesgericht

German appellate courts

An Oberlandesgericht (German: [ˈoːbɐˌlandəsɡəʁɪçt] ⓘ; plural – Oberlandesgerichte pronounced [ˈoːbɐˌlandəsɡəʁɪçtə] ⓘ; OLG, English: Higher Regional Court,[1][notes 1] or in Berlin Kammergericht: KG) is a higher court in Germany.

Interior of the Cologne OLG

There are 24 Oberlandesgerichte in Germany and they deal with civil and criminal matters. They are positioned above regional courts (Landgerichte) and below the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof), in family and child law above the local courts (Amtsgericht) and below the Federal Court of Justice. In the Oberlandesgerichte, the offices of the Generalstaatsanwaltschaft (German: [ɡenəˈʁaːlˌʃtaːt͡sʔanvaltʃaft] ⓘ) or district attorney general are located. In criminal cases that are under primary jurisdiction of the Federal Court of Justice (i.e., cases concerning national security), the Oberlandesgerichte act as branches of the Federal Court of Justice, that is, as "lower federal courts" (Untere Bundesgerichte).

As per Section 120 Courts Constitution Act [de], OLGs have original jurisdiction (Erstinstanz) over crimes against public international law under the Völkerstrafgesetzbuch (genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes). This includes trials under universal jurisdiction (that were committed by non-Germans outside of Germany).

The OLG Düsseldorf is one of the most popular patent trial forums for patentees in Europe.[2]

The Oberlandesgerichte were first set up in the German Empire by the Courts Constitution Act of 27 January 1877. In Prussia, there had been Oberlandesgerichte as the higher provincial courts since 1808, known as Regierung from 1723 to 1808.

The individual Higher Regional Courts

As of 2023 there are 24 Higher Regional Courts in Germany. Each German state has at least one Higher Regional Court. Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate each have two, Bavaria, Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia each have three Higher Regional Courts.[3]

For historical reasons the Higher Regional Court in Berlin is called the Kammergericht and the Higher Regional Courts in Hamburg and Bremen are called Hanseatic Higher Regional Court.

More information Higher Regional Court, Native name and common abbreviation ...

Notes

  1. [N 1]
    The usual English translation of Oberlandesgericht is "Higher Regional Court". See for example the official web site of the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf (Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf), retrieved on April 29, 2015.

References

  1. [1]
    "Amtliche Bezeichnungen deutscher Gerichte" (PDF). Federal Foreign Office (in German). Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  2. [2]
    "New president Patent Division Düsseldorf Appeal Court". Intellectual Property Expert Group Blog. 11 January 2008. Archived from the original on 13 August 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  3. [3]
    "Entscheidungen der Oberlandesgerichte". Juristisches Internetprojekt Saarbrücken (JIPS) (in German). Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2023.

Further reading

  • von Köckritz, Moritz (2011). Die deutschen Oberlandesgerichtspräsidenten im Nationalsozialismus (1933–1945). Rechtshistorische Reihe (in German). Vol. 413. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. ISBN 978-3-631-61791-5.
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