. NMT03-T0230
Volume III · Page 230
among different Special Courts than among several divisions of one and the same Special Court. Therefore, no advantage can be seen in the establishment of a whole series of new Special Courts as it has been noticed during the last years.
c. Reinforcement of the existing Special Courts by assigning a number of additional associate judges is considered to be the most suitable method. The uniformity of the direction of the Special Court is being secured by the presiding judge, while the most experienced associate judge should be made his deputy.
This strengthening of the Special Courts will in any case secure the uniformity of jurisdiction and will make possible a more extensive performance than in separated Special Courts. This strengthening of course is limited by the working capacity of the president and by his ability to exert influence. The president has to bear both in the preparation and in the conduct of the trial, the bulk of physical and intellectual work, a circumstance which sets a natural limit to this form of strengthening of the Special Courts.
2. Furthermore it is stressed that the Special Courts' return to their proper task cannot be seen in organizational measures, but that a sensible relief of the Special Courts from inappropriate criminal cases must be accomplished.
a. A means thereto is already at hand now in article 24 of the decree concerning court competence. According to it, Special Courts are entitled to transfer trivial cases to the local or the criminal courts. Apparently practice is not uniform in this respect. While some Special Courts, in view of their excessive pressure of work, have already made an extended use of the opportunity to transfer cases to the regular courts, other Special Courts appear to have entirely renounced such a transfer, carrying through themselves even unimportant criminal cases. In general they base this on the bad experiences they made when they transferred cases to the regular jurisdiction.
In spite of that, transfers according to article 24 ought to be practised to a far greater extent. Through the sentences as suggested by the prosecutions, through judges' letters and through directing of the criminal procedure, care has been taken that local and criminal courts are being integrated into the framework of Special Court jurisdiction. Thus, for instance, minor cases of illegal slaughtering, contact with prisoners of war, etc., could be transferred. If the penal courts were continuously entrusted with these matters, then they would also develop a uniform experience, which as yet is not possible. As a further means of relief, according to the present state of legislation, a directive to the public prosecutors is suggested with the purpose that all minor cases
