Load at the Gießen district court: Justice calls for urgent reforms!
Load at the Gießen district court: Justice calls for urgent reforms!
The workload at the Gießen district court increased significantly in 2024 compared to the previous year. In particular, employees in the middle service clearly feel this burden. Despite the challenges, the duration of the procedure at the court remains comparatively short. Dietrich-Claus Becker, outgoing Vice President of the District Court, emphasizes the essential role of the judiciary for a liberal-democratic constitutional state. Becker will switch to the Gießen district court at the end of May 2025 and will leave his successor, Dr. Marcus Wilhelm, a dish that has to deal with many stress.
The average period of proceedings in the district court shows interesting figures:
| civil matters | 6.7 months | 7 months |
| criminal judge | 7.5 months | 7.5 months |
| lay judge procedure in adults | 8.8 months | 7.6 months |
| youth judge | 6.5 months | 7 months |
| fine procedure in adults | 4.5 months | 4 months |
| Family disputes | 7.3 months | 6.3 months |
increasing stress and restructuring
The fluctuation in personnel and retirement of experienced legal care workers are essential reasons for the high load. This has also increased in the middle service areas: the average burden rose from 117 percent in 2023 to 122 percent in 2024. The burden for legal staff is now 121.77 percent. In view of this situation, Becker calls for organizational changes and the creation of new positions to improve working conditions.
Similarly, Becker emphasizes the need for respectful handling in the courtroom. An increase in aggression and disrespect, especially people from the Reich Citizens' Milieu, has also led to a tense climate at the Gießen district court. However, Becker and the team of the district court are combative and are not intimidated by the hostility.
training and digital transformation
The Gießen district court has established itself as a “training location of rank” and trains numerous judicial workers and candidates for the middle official service. A total of around 50 trainees are currently working at the court, and in 2024 six trainees have successfully passed their final exam. In addition, the introduction of the electronic acts (eaks) in various subject areas is successfully promoted in order to shorten the decision -making channels and increase flexibility. The area of criminal law should follow in autumn 2025.
The decision -makers at the district court are therefore faced with both challenges and opportunities, while they want to ensure a modern, effective and, above all, respectful judiciary. You can find more information in the reports of Gießener Allgemeine , Gießener Anzeiger as well as in an extensive background report on DetailsQuellen