Amtsgericht

Amtsgericht in Zehdenick

Amtsgericht is German for Local Court.^[1] These courts form the lowest level of the so-called ordinary jurisdiction of the German judiciary (German Ordentliche Gerichtsbarkeit), which is responsible for most criminal and civil judicial matters.^[2] The German Amtsgericht may be compared to the British Magistrates' Court.

The main areas of an Amtsgericht's jurisdiction are:

• court of first instance for civil case where the subject of litigation is worth 5,000 euros or less, and for litigation involving rental agreements, marriages, alimony and child custody.
• court of first instance for criminal cases where a fine or a prison term of no more than four years can be imposed.
• administration of several public register such as the companies', the associations', the cooperatives' and the land ownership register.

There are 640 Amtsgerichte in Germany,^[3] whose jurisdictional area typically comprises a small number of towns or municipalities. The next higher level of ordinary jurisdiction is called Landgericht.

References

1. German Foreign Office: Equivalents of the names of German courts in other languages
2. Gerichtsverfassungsgesetz (German Judiciary Act) §12, English translation
3. A list of Amtsgerichte