During a visit to the Offenbach District Court on Tuesday, Hesse's Minister of Justice Roman Poseck (CDU) spoke of the fact that the situation in some departments of the court “does not correspond to the standards and requirements of the Hessian judiciary”.

He was referring to the fact that there were massive backlogs in the processing of applications in the probate department, and according to reports from the “Offenbach-Post” also in the land registry.

According to Poseck, the Higher Regional Court (OLG) and the ministry had to intervene a long time ago.

Anna Sophia Lang

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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He got a picture of the place on Tuesday and "had intensive talks with everyone involved," said the minister.

It is important to him to achieve a "clear and rapid improvement in the situation".

"The people within the jurisdiction of this court are right to expect a reasonable length of time in the completion of their cases."

weekend work and coaching

According to Poseck, there had been regular discussions between the Higher Regional Court and the court management since spring 2021, which resulted in a monthly reporting requirement.

The Higher Regional Court carried out a structural analysis, which resulted in weekend work, coaching for the service units, an increase in the number of magistrates and secondments of other employees to Offenbach.

The deputy manager was released to clear backlogs.

Proceedings were distributed to eight other courts.

Now there should be further consequences because the "comprehensive success" is still missing.

On the one hand, according to Poseck, the court got ten additional employees in the fall, which meant that it was "considered far more important than would have corresponded to its size and stressful situation and the actual departures".

High turnover in the district court

In addition, there should continue to be "special operations with weekend work".

In addition, there is close support from the internal audit department of the Higher Regional Court, and an audit is already planned for January 2023.

Poseck said on Tuesday about the reasons for the disastrous situation, above all the “high fluctuation and many cases of illness may have contributed significantly to the problems that have arisen”.