Courts of Germany

The judiciary, that is, the judges and Courts of Germany are independent. They are not controlled by the Federal Government or the State Governments. There are laws which say what sort of cases the courts can hear and pass judgment on, and what type of punishment a court can give. But no law or minister can say that a person is guilty. Only the courts can do this.
Protection.
Courts give protection to ordinary people from bad governments, they are also protected from bad governments themselves.
Protection of people by the courts.
Germany has had free courts for longer than it has been a democracy, although under the Nazis many judges ignored the law and did what the Nazi Party wanted. This is why they were tried at the Nuremberg Judges Trial
Germany is a "Rechtsstaat". That means it is a government based on law. All citizens are guaranteed to be equal, and government decisions can be challenged in court.
No law or minister can say that a person, or group of people is guilty.
Protection of courts from the government.
Federal law sets out the structure of the judiciary. Running courts is up to the Länder. The Länder ("States of Germany") are run the lower levels of the court system; only the highest courts are paid for by the federal government.
This federal-Land split means that the Federation (that is, the Federal Government) can make sure laws are enforced equally throughout the country, because it says what courts must be set up. The Länder administer the courts, and this stops the federal government from being able to order the courts to do things, or to appoint the judges. This helps keep the courts independent.
Legal system.
Germany has a system of Roman law. This is different from the United States and England which use the common law.
In a common law system courts rely on "precedents" (what was decided in similar cases earlier) . In Germany, courts look to a comprehensive system of legal codes. The codes set out legal principles or basic ideas, and have to decide each case by comparing the facts of the case to those principles, not to what another judges decided earlier.
Training judges.
Because the legal codes are very important and complicated, judges must be very well trained.
Judges are not chosen from practicing lawyers, as in the UK and USA. Instead being a judge is a separate career
At the end of their legal education at university, all law students must pass a state examination before they can continue on to an apprenticeship that provides them with broad training in the legal profession over two years. They then must pass a second state examination that qualifies them to practice law. After the second exam a person must choose either to be a lawyer or to be a judge.
Those who choose to be a judge start working at courts immediately. However they are on "probation" (a temporary training period) for up to four years before being appointed as judges for lifetime.
The Court System.
Germany has three types of courts.
Ordinary Courts.
The are four levels of ordinary courts:
Specialized Courts.
Specialized courts deal with administrative, labor, social, fiscal, and patent law.
The is a Federal Patents Court in Munich adjudicates disputes relating to industrial property rights. Patents are a federal issue, so now state courts have been set up.
Constitutional Courts.
Each Land has a state constitutional court. These courts are administratively and financially independent from any other government body. For instance, a Land constitutional court can write its own budget and hire or fire employees.
These courts hear cases where the constitution and the rights it gives are in question.
For example, a criminal case might be appealed from the Bundesgerichtshof if a persons human rights are involved.
The Federal Constitutional Court, the "Bundesverfassungsgericht", can check that the way other courts look at the law to make sure they do not forget these basic rights. Sometimes the Federal Constitutional Court has overturned the decisions of other federal courts.
The "Bundesverfassungsgericht" protects people's rights under the constitution in another way. It is the only court that can ban a political party, if it is acting or says it will act against the constitution.