Joint Senate of the Supreme Courts of Germany
, Also referred to the Joint Senate of the Supreme Courts of the Federation ( OGB - GmS ) as Joint Senate, is a joint institution of the highest German courts, which is to preserve the uniformity of decisions of the supreme federal courts.
Legal basis for its establishment, Article 95 paragraph 3 GG; the law to preserve the uniformity of the jurisprudence of the Supreme Judicial Courts of the Federation ( RsprEinhG ) regulates the details.
The Joint Senate has its headquarters in Karlsruhe.
Composition
The Joint Senate shall be composed of the President of the Federal Court, the Federal Administrative Court, the Federal Labour Court, the Federal Social Court and the Federal Fiscal Court, which are supplemented, as appropriate, by the Chairman, and another judge of the Senate involved. The chairman of the joint Senate leads the oldest living president of the non-participating supreme courts ( " Participation " refers to an open Causa ).
Tasks
The Joint Senate has a question of law to decide if a supreme federal court intends to depart in a question of law from the decision of another supreme federal court or of the Joint Senate. The national court is bound by the decision of the question of law by the joint Senate. This is the uniformity of the jurisprudence of the Supreme Judicial Courts of the Federation be guaranteed.
The Joint Senate is not set up an independent supreme federal court, but rather as an organ of communication between the supreme federal courts.
Decisions
The Joint Senate occurred only very rarely together since its inception in 1968. He decided, for example, in 2000, that so-called defining briefs, such as a grounds for appeal, may also be transmitted by computer fax with scanned signature to the court. A template of the Federal Finance from 2007 to remonstrance against a decision on an application for legal aid was withdrawn in 2009. In 2009, put the IX. Civil Senate of the Bundesgerichtshof the Joint Senate before the question of whether claims against the insolvency of the debtor of workers labor court or the courts of law is given. The Joint Senate decided on 27 September 2010 that for such claims to the courts is given to the courts for labor disputes. The Federal Court the common Senate in 2010 presented the question whether the German drug price law also applies to products that are introduced in the mail to Germany. On August 22, 2012, the joint Senate ruled that fixed prices for prescription drugs and for mail order pharmacies is true regardless of whether domestic or foreign. His judgment was necessary after the Federal Social Court discounts and bonuses have been declared admissible, the Federal Court does not.
Another decision concerned the question of the period within which a judgment should be discontinued. The Joint Senate decided that a judgment must be issued no later than five months after its promulgation. The deadline is met if the judge passes the written texts drawn, provided with facts and grounds of decision and signed by him judgment of his office within five months after the announcement. A service of the judgment within the five -month period but is not necessary.