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15 Crim. Just. Rev. 22 (1990)
The Proactive Responsibility of East German Criminal Courts

handle is hein.journals/crmrev15 and id is 32 raw text is: Criminal Justice Review © 1990 College of Public and Urban Affairs Volume 15, Number 1, Spring 1990 Georgia State University THE PROACTIVE RESPONSIBILITY OF EAST GERMAN CRIMINAL COURTS* Nancy Travis Wolfe While all courts have specific legal mandates, the socialist tribunals of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) have a different legal mandate when hearing a case: to perform an educational function, to identify criminogenic factors in the society, and to take steps to rectify the situation. Not only does this mission entail an effort to influence positively the individuals affected by the case being heard, but the courts also have authority to compel work and residential units, governmental agencies, and social organizations to respond to their criticisms. In the effort to curtail crime, the courts can call upon lay volunteers to serve in a variety of capacities in all stages of the judicial process, including the execution of court decisions. Thus the function of a GDR court involves more than judicial responsibility; it encompasses an extensive social role as well. An examination of the criminal court system of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) evokes the question of whether there is a fundamental difference between socialist and Western principles of judicial function.' Only against the background of Marxist legal and criminological theory can the role of socialist courts be understood; yet those who seek to explain Marx's concept of criminal law are handicapped by the fact that nowhere in his works is the word defined (Cain, 1982, p. 65), nor is the concept of socialist criminal law discussed (Schroeder, 1983, p. 18).2 This lack of specific treatment derives from Marx's expectation that the transition period between capitalism and communism would be brief, obviating an explication. During the interim, the phase of socialism under the dictatorship of the proletariat (Marx & Engels, 1988, p. 42), courts share in the responsibility to ensure that socialist legality is observed and to foster the development of a truly communistic society (Berman, 1966, pp. *Research for this article was supported in part by a grant from the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX), with funds provided by the United States Information Agency. None of these organizations is responsible for the views expressed. 'One of the many dangers inherent in comparative analysis is that of comparing a young system like that of the German Democratic Republic (that is, one which is still in transition) with a mature system like that of Anglo-American law (Watson, 1974, chap. 2). Nor can one speak of socialist law as if it were a monolith, since there are significant variations among countries which call themselves socialist (Ehrmann, 1976, pp. 16-17). For a review of models of comparative analysis of courts, see Tate (1987). 2As a consequence, commentators are faced with the task of taking scattered discussions and trying to extract a coherent explanation, thereby incurring the possible charge of distorting Marx's meaning by quoting out of context. In Marxian theory, law represents one of the means by which the economically powerful attempt to control those whom they exploit (David & Brierley, 1978, p. 158).

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