Public Prosecutor General (Germany)

The Public Prosecutor General at the Federal Court of Justice (German: Generalbundesanwalt or Generalbundesanwältin beim Bundesgerichtshof (GBA), lit.: "General Federal Attorney at the Federal Court of Justice") is the federal prosecutor of Germany, representing the federal government at the Bundesgerichtshof, the federal court of justice. The office of the Public Prosecutor General is located in Karlsruhe. Besides its role in appellate cases, the Public Prosecutor General has primary jurisdiction in cases of crimes against the state (in particular terrorism, espionage and treason), and offences under the Völkerstrafgesetzbuch (genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes). The Public Prosecutor General also represents Germany in certain civil and administrative cases.

Premises of the German Public Prosecutor General in Karlsruhe

The Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection proposes the Public Prosecutor General with the approval of the Bundesrat to the President of Germany for appointment.[1] The Public Prosecutor General is considered a political official. He is supposed to share the criminal and security policy views and objectives of the respective acting federal government and can be retired without further reasons at any time. He is subject to the supervision of the Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection.

In 1977, then-Public Prosecutor General Siegfried Buback was assassinated by an extremist left-wing group, the Red Army Faction.

Organization

The GBA is supported by a Deputy Public Prosecutor General at the Federal Court of Justice (Stellvertretender Generalbundesanwalt beim Bundesgerichtshof) and several Federal Prosecutors at the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesanwälte beim Bundesgerichtshof), Senior Public Prosecutors at the Federal Court of Justice (Oberstaatsanwälte beim Bundesgerichtshof) and Public Prosecutors at the Federal Court of Justice (Staatsanwälte beim Bundesgerichtshof). He has a staff of about 300, of whom about 110 are permanently assigned public prosecutors and about 50 public prosecutors or judges from the federal states, who are usually seconded for three years.[2]

The office of the Public Prosecutor General at the Federal Court of Justice is organized as follows:

  • Directorate ZS: central services (5 departments); espionage; crimes under the Foreign Trade and Payments Act, crimes under the War Weapons Control Act, international criminal law (5 departments)
  • Directorate Appeals: appeals at the Federal Court of Justice (7 departments)
  • Directorate TE: terrorism (11 departments)[3]

List of Public Prosecutor General since 1950[4]
Carlo Wiechmann 1950–1956
Max Güde 1956–1961
Wolfgang Fraenkel 1962
Ludwig Martin 1963–1974
Siegfried Buback 1974–1977
Kurt Rebmann 1977–1990
Alexander von Stahl 1990–1993
Kay Nehm 1994–2006
Monika Harms 2006–2011
Harald Range 2011–2015
Peter Frank 2015 - present

References
  1. http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_gvg/englisch_gvg.html#GVGengl_000P149
  2. "Der Generalbundesanwalt - Über uns". www.generalbundesanwalt.de. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  3. "Der Generalbundesanwalt - Organigramm". www.generalbundesanwalt.de. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  4. List of former Attorneys-General at the Attorney General's web presence

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