On the morning of June 14, 2023, the Faculty of Constitutional Law - Administrative Law and the Faculty of Criminal Justice, University of Law, VNU, jointly organized a lecture with the theme "Organization and Operation of the Courts and the Independence of Judges in the Federal Republic of Germany”.

 

The lecture included the participation of senior experts from Germany: Prof. Dr. Georg Guntge (Deputy Attorney General of the State of Schleswig-Holstein and Chief Prosecutor of the State Attorney General of Schleswig Holstein, Germany); MSc. Annette Eisenhardt (Judge, Berlin-Tiergarten District Court, Berlin). On the University of Law side, the meeting included the presence of Dr. Le Lan Chi (Dean of the Faculty of Criminal Justice); Assoc.Prof.Dr. Dang Minh Tuan (Vice Dean in charge of Faculty of Constitutional Law - Administrative Law); Assoc.Prof.Dr. Bui Tien Dat (Vice Head of the Office of Research Management and Partnership Cooperation) and the large participation of students studying at the University.

 

Giving the opening remark, Mrs. Angela Lummel (Project Manager) affirmed that she and her colleagues were excited to participate in the presentation to exchange practice and legislative experience in Germany.

After the opening speech, Prof. Dr. Georg Guntge presented an overview of the German legal system and the organization of courts in Germany.

 

First, he affirmed that the independence of judges is a constitutional norm regulated in the Constitution and protected by the Constitution. The court system in Germany is hierarchically distributed from the Federal Supreme Court to the State Courts, in addition to the Federal and State Constitutional Courts. The federal courts are the mechanism that ensures the smooth and uniform operation of the judicial system in Germany. "When a judgment is rendered by a federal court, it is immediately enforceable and becomes a precedent for all state courts from the time of its issuance. However, if there is a sign of unconstitutionality in the judgment of the Federal Court, the Federal Constitutional Court will consider whether the judgment is unconstitutional. It is different from the court system in Vietnam." he added.

 

After Professor Georg Guntge's presentation, the lecture continued with a discussion session. Within the framework of the discussion session, Professor Georg received numerous questions from lecturers and students of the VNU University of Law. The main questions revolved around the court system, the functions and duties of the prosecutors, measures to ensure fairness in the proceedings in Germany, etc.

 

At the end of the lecture, Dr. Le Lan Chi thanked the experts for attending and providing valuable knowledge and experiences. She expected that the two sides continue to have the opportunity to cooperate in the future.