Record Group - 02.03.08.03 Military court authorities

The emergence of military court authorities is closely linked to the formation of standing armies. While military jurisdiction, which was exempt from civil courts, was usually exercised by laymen in mercenary armies, trained lawyers, so-called auditors, took over this task in standing armies. They were responsible for the investigation of criminal offences, the prosecution and the justification of judgements in the troop unit. The regimental commander remained the lord of the court and pronounced judgement. At the beginning of the 18th century, a higher military court was created in Saxony. Judgements handed down by the regimental courts martial now had to be submitted to the general court martial, and from 1835 to the higher court martial, for review and confirmation if the judgement was against 'life, limb or honour' of the defendant. From 1718, an auditor was assigned to each troop unit as an officer of military justice who, alongside the regimental commander, was subordinate to the Auditor General. From 1789, the General Courts Martial College replaced the General Courts Martial, where only the Auditor General was active. All courts martial were subordinate to this. It consisted of a president, usually a general, and four permanent court martial councillors, chaired by the Auditor General. <br/><br/>With Saxony's accession to the North German Confederation in 1867 and the conclusion of a military convention with Prussia, the Saxon army ceased to exist independently and was integrated into the North German Confederation as the XII. Army Corps into the North German Federal Army. Military jurisdiction was now strongly orientated towards the Prussian model, which was based on the division of criminal jurisdiction into two parts. The lower jurisdiction extended to all persons who did not hold officer rank and included offences that were only punishable by arrest. The courts martial corresponding to the lower jurisdiction were formed at regimental level and officers were assigned to them as investigators and representatives of the prosecution. The higher jurisdiction extended to all persons subject to military criminal jurisdiction and covered all offences. At divisional level, the courts martial consisted of five judges, including one or two court martial counsellors. They were the courts of first instance for all cases not subject to lower jurisdiction and the court of appeal for the summary courts.<br/><br/>In 1898, a new, standardised military criminal court code was passed. This led to the dissolution of the High War Court in 1900 and the establishment of new High War Courts at the respective general commands instead. They were courts of appeal for the judgements of the courts martial and only met for individual cases. The most important feature of the new court organisation was the introduction of a court of appeal. Contested judgements could now be reviewed by a court of higher jurisdiction. The institution of the lord of the court, who was still able to convene courts martial, courts martial and higher courts martial, as well as the division of jurisdiction remained. With the abolition of military jurisdiction in 1920, the courts martial were dissolved.

Sächsisches Staatsarchiv (Beständegliederung) >> 02. Königreich und Freistaat Sachsen 1831 - 1945 >> 02.03 Fachbehörden und nachgeordnete Einrichtungen >> 02.03.08 Militär

Es gilt die Sächsische Archivbenutzungsverordnung vom 8. September 2022 (SächsGVBl. S. 526).

• German

Original description: Archivportal-D

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