Reichskammergericht
 | This articlerelies largely or entirely on asingle source.(February 2012) |
TheReichskammergericht(Germanfor 'Imperial Chamber Court';German:[ˈʁaɪçs.kamɐɡəˌʁɪçt];Latin:Iudicium imperii) was one of the two highest judicial institutions in theHoly Roman Empire,the other one being theAulic CouncilinVienna.It was founded in 1495 by theImperial DietinWorms.All legal proceedings in the Holy Roman Empire could be brought to the Imperial Chamber Court, except if the ruler of the territory had a so-calledprivilegium de non appellando,in which case the highest judicial institution was found by the ruler of that territory. Another exception was criminal law in which the Imperial Chamber Court could intervene only if basic procedural rules had been violated.
The Imperial Chamber Court was infamous for the long time that it took to reach a verdict. Some proceedings, especially in lawsuits between differentstates of the Empire,took several hundred years. Some of the lawsuits had not been brought to an end when it was dissolved in 1806 following the downfall of the Holy Roman Empire.[1]However, it has lately been discovered that it could often be attributed to a loss of interest on the part of the parties involved, and that the court was sometimes much more efficient than previously thought. Sometimes, the court even ordered injunctions within a few days.
Recent research has also brought to light that especially in the 18th century, the rulings of the court anticipated in many ways the constitutional establishment of civil liberties in Germany. For instance, the inviolability of one's housing or freedom of trade was legally introduced in the Empire by rulings of the court. In the late 18th century, some contemporaries even compared the Imperial Chamber Court to theNational AssemblyinRevolutionary France.
History
[edit]
At its foundation, the Imperial Chamber Court was seated inFrankfurt.It was later moved toWorms,Augsburg,Nürnberg,Regensburg,Speyer,Esslingen,Speyer again (from 1527 to 1689), and finally toWetzlaruntil it was dissolved in 1806.
From the early Middle Ages, there had been asupreme courtfor the Empire, theHofgericht,in which theEmperorhimself presided.[1]This court was connected directly to the Emperor, so it ceased to act when he was abroad, and it disbanded when he died. In the 15th century, the Emperor ceased to command as much respect, so his court lost the confidence of his subjects. Its place was taken by theKammergericht.[1]
The Emperor or a deputy presided in theKammergerichtand it was still his personal court, but the members were now officials of the Empire. It was generally the legal members of the council who sat in theKammergericht.It fell into disuse in the later years of the reign ofFrederick III.The creation of a new and efficient court became a matter of pressing necessity, and it was one of the most urgent of the reforms which were mooted in the reign ofMaximilian I.[1]
The "province of the Imperial Chamber", as it came to be gradually defined by statute and use, extended to breaches of the public peace, cases of arbitrary distraint (property seizure) or imprisonment, pleas which concerned the treasury, violations of the Emperor's decrees or the laws passed by the Imperial Diet, disputes about property betweenimmediate tenants of the Empireor the subjects of different rulers, and finally suits against immediate tenants of the Empire, with the exception of criminal charges and matters relating to imperial fiefs, which went to theAulic Council.[1]
In all of its business, it suffered from the competition of the Aulic Council, and after the 16th century, it devoted itself exclusively to judicial work.[1]Composed of the personal advisers of the Emperor, the Aulic Council did justice on his behalf. The competition between the Aulic Council and the Imperial Chamber was finally regulated by theTreaty of Westphaliain 1648, which laid down that the court which first dealt with a case should alone have competence to pursue it.[1]
Composition
[edit]The court's composition was determined by both the Holy Roman Emperor and the subject states of the Empire. The Emperor appointed the chief justice (always a highborn aristocrat), several divisional chief judges, and some of the otherpuisne judges.The majority of the judges were selected by theestates of the realm.Originally, half of the judges were Knights of the Empire, and the other half were law graduates, but after 1548, all judges had to be law graduates.
References
[edit]- ^abcdefgThis article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Imperial Chamber".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 14 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 341–342.
External links
[edit]- Society for Imperial Chamber Court Research, Wetzlar
- Museum and Research Centre of the Imperial Chamber Court
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