It's pretty quiet in the long corridors of Germany's largest criminal court. Where up to 300 processes run in a day in normal times, only around 25 are in the corona crisis.
Berlin (dpa) - Only a few steps can be heard, many doors are locked. Everything on the back burner, because of the corona crisis, is also said in the criminal court Berlin-Moabit, the largest criminal court in Germany.
Processes that are not urgently pending do not take place. But postponed is not canceled. As in the case of a clan chief whose process of assault and threat was supposed to end in April. The district court took advantage of the opportunities created by the legislator because of the corona pandemic and interrupted the trial until early June.
Where up to 300 main negotiations in around 90 halls are on the program on normal days, operations are down to the bare essentials. But there is no standstill. A criminal chamber has five appointments on its daily schedule - in all cases it is a matter of issuing arrest warrants.
A burglar is tried in another room. The man is hoping to be released from custody. "It is in emergency operation, but it is working," said Lisa Jani, spokeswoman for the Berlin criminal courts. In the criminal court there are currently around 25 negotiations every day.
"All courts are open, I want to stick to that," says Berlin's Senator for Justice Dirk Behrendt (Greens) of the German Press Agency. His argument: The rule of law must remain capable of acting even in times of crisis.
The German Judges Association sees a large wave of proceedings across the country after the end of the crisis that will roll over to many understaffed courts. In 2019, promised to hire 2,000 additional judges and prosecutors by 2021, federal managing director Sven Rebehn recalls.
From the perspective of the judges' association, the crisis also shows the gaps in the IT equipment of the courts and the limited capacities of the data networks. Switching to online negotiations in civil processes, for example, would hardly be feasible, says Rebehn of the German Press Agency. Appropriate technology is lacking in many courtrooms. In his view, the corona crisis should therefore be a reason for a surge in digitization in the judiciary for the federal and state governments.
In the criminal capital of the German capital, there are mandatory deadlines, such as liability matters, about which judges have to decide despite the crisis. "There are strict deadlines," emphasizes the court spokeswoman. The law to mitigate the consequences of the Covid 19 pandemic had already had an impact in some main negotiations.
According to the current regulation, main negotiations regarding the Corona crisis can be interrupted for a total of three months and ten days. Criminal proceedings are normally only allowed to be interrupted for three weeks or for four weeks if they have lasted longer than ten days of trial.
"Please keep a distance of two meters," a judge directs those present in a robbery trial. At a distance there are also notes on the hall doors in the court: Every second seat must be kept free. Process listeners must enter their address and telephone number in a list. In the event of a coronavirus case.