The Organisation of the German Department of Justice in the General Government in the Years 1939–1945

Abstract

The General Government was an area of unclear political and legal status which included the
central Polish territories occupied by Germany. It was ruled by the Governor General Hans Frank,
who was formally directly subordinate to Hitler. The central body of the German administration of
the occupied territories was the Office of Governor General that was subordinate to Frank (since
1941 known as the Government of the General Government). This institution included the Department
of Justice (since 1941 known as the Chief Department of Justice). The head of this Department,
Kurt Wille, held the office almost throughout the whole period of occupation in the General Government.
At the district level, the current administrative authority over jurisdiction was held by the head
of the department of justice in the office of the chief of the district.
The most characteristic feature of the department of justice of the GG was the dual system of
jurisdiction. One level was the German jurisdiction: special courts, German courts, superior German
courts. The other was the Polish jurisdiction: courts of appeal, regional courts and magistrate courts
(the official term applied since the incorporation of the District of Galicia in 1941, was non-German
jurisdiction). The Polish jurisdiction (non-German jurisdiction) was governed and controlled both by
the German administration of the department of justice, and the German jurisdiction. Moreover, the
department of justice also governed the Polish public prosecutors’ office, bar and notary profession,
as well as the German bar and notary profession, the German public prosecutors’ office and penology.