Sybille Heinemann Appointed as a Lay Judge
(edited on 16/03/2003)
Ms Sybille Heinemann, owner of Sybille Heinemann Personal- und Managementberatung, was appointed as a Lay Judge at the Labour Court of the city of Magdeburg/Germany with effect from 01/05/2003.

Especially for labour jurisdiction, lay judges are able to contribute competence resulting from their own work environment and their own experiences of life in a profitable way to legal proceedings. This fact also leads to a better understandability of jurisdiction. Furthermore it arises the citizen’s confidence in the justice.

The status of a lay judge and his or her rights within legal proceedings are the same as for a professional judge with an academic degree in law. All of them are independent and subjects to the law. Even though the lay judge was not involved in the preparing measures carried out by the president or by the commentator, the lay judge’s vote has the same power as the professional judge’s vote. Of course, to prepare a correct vote he or she has to be informed in detail by the professional judges about the fact of the case and about the matter of dispute. During the legal proceedings the lay judge has the right to ask relevant questions and before the vote he or she is allowed to contribute own experiences of life and to justify his or her own view of a fair result. Especially here you can find his or her most important task. If you ask the lay judges about their part within legal proceedings, it will create the following idea:

Most of the lay judges are in contact with organisations, which recommended him or her. Therefore lay judges are normally persons who are able to classify social circumstances and to recognise different interests in an above-average way. If they are asked about their influence within the hearing and the following consultation, you will come to know that the engagement of the lay judges often depends on how revealed, complete and sometimes even how controversial the information is, which is given about the case and its backgrounds by the professional judges. All lay judges agree that the affiliation to the respective organisation does not play any role during legal proceeding and consultation. This pleasant aspect shows that lay judges are really interested in judge to the best of one’s knowledge and without considering the person’s reputation. They do not see their task in represent certain interests, but to verify the legal position given by the professional judges with the help of their common sense to plausibility and understandability.