Round Tables Court Assistance

Round Tables Court Assistance

The professional cooperation and regular exchange of information between the professions involved that takes place at the “Round Tables” are indispensable for well-functioning court assistance. For this reason “Round Tables - Court Assistance” were established by decree of the Federal Ministry of Justice of 13 January 2009 as a networking forum, which were held once a year until 2015 and since 2017, have been held every other year at the criminal courts of first instance; the first few Round Tables were held in 2010.

These Round Tables, which are organised by the presidents of the regional courts in close cooperation with the Management Center for Victim Support (MZ.O), are attended by judges and public prosecutors for criminal matters, representatives of victim support institutions of the relevant regional court circuit, representatives of the local bar association, lawyers who work as legal court assistants as well as representatives of the local police, of child and youth services and of the Ombusoffice for children and youths. Sometimes judges in charge of family-law matters or representatives of other professions, e.g. expert witnesses, are also invited.

The Round Tables Court Assistance aim to deepen mutual understanding of the areas of work and work processes and to promote networking.

The overall topic for 2022 will be:
Diversion according to Sections 198 et seq Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) in the context of best possible victim protection and court assistance.

The overall topic for 2019 was:
Victims of persistent stalking (Section 107a of the Criminal Code) and persistent harassment involving telecommunication or computer systems (Section 107c of the Criminal Code).

The overall topic for 2017 was:
Framework conditions for a considerate examination of particularly vulnerable victims (Section 66a CPC) as defined by Section 165 paras. 3 and 4 CPC (how the examination is to be carried out, conditions for giving testimony, conduct when giving testimony, good practices, best practices, etc.).