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- Allocation of Jurisdiction
Allocation of Jurisdiction
The composition of the panels and the judicial duties allocated to the individual panels are laid down in the annual Schedule of Jurisdiction adopted before the beginning of each business year by the Federal Court of Justice's Presiding Committee which consists of the President and ten judges elected by all the judges of the Court. The complete Schedule of Jurisdiction, also published annually in an annex to the Federal Gazette, is at present basically structured as follows:
Civil cases
In civil cases, responsibilities are allocated according to fields of law. The civil panels are currently assigned the following fields of law:
| Panel | Field of law |
|---|---|
| First Civil Panel | copyright, protection of intellectual property rights, transport law, brokerage law |
| Second Civil Panel | corporate law, law of associations |
| Third Civil Panel | state and notaries’ liability, mandate law, law on foundations and endowments, agency without specific authorisation |
| Fourth Civil Panel | inheritance law, insurance contract law |
| Fifth Civil Panel | real property law, matters of deprivation of liberty |
| Sixth Civil Panel | law of torts, product liability, medical liability |
| Sixth A Civil Panel (auxiliary panel) | claims for damages in tort concerning so called "diesel-cases" |
| Seventh Civil Panel | construction and architectural law, law of compulsory enforcement |
| Eighth Civil Panel | law on the sale of goods, landlord and tenancy law |
| Ninth Civil Panel | insolvency law, lawyers’ liability |
| Tenth Civil Panel | patent law, tourist travel law, law of donations |
| Eleventh Civil Panel | banking law, capitalmarket law |
| Twelvth Civil Panel | family law, commercial tenancy law |
Criminal cases
In criminal cases, allocation of responsibilities is primarily governed by locational criteria. Each panel is assigned appeals in criminal cases from specific higher regional court circuits. Irrespective of this, the following panels are also allocated special fields of law:
| Panel | Field of law |
|---|---|
| First Criminal Panel | tax and customs offences, military criminal cases, national defence transgressions |
| Third Criminal Panel | crimes against the state |
| Fourth Criminal Panel | road traffic cases |