Perverting the course of justice / Rechtsbeugung

From Strafprozesse und andere Ungereimtheiten:

Gibt man bei Google die Begriffe “Oberlandesgericht” und “Naumburg” ein, wird man schon auf der ersten Seite auffällig oft auf Hinweise auf den Verdacht der Rechtsbeugung treffen, insbesondere im Zusammenhang mit dem Fall “Görgülü”, der schon Kreise gezogen hat.

and earlier:

Die Staatsanwaltschaft Halle soll gegen drei Richter und eine Richterin des Oberlandesgerichts Naumburg ein förmliches Ermittlungsverfahren wegen Rechtsbeugung eingeleitet haben. Im Juni soll deshalb das Bundesverfassungsgericht dem Naumburger OLG-Senat bescheinigt haben, dass er “außerhalb seiner Zuständigkeit unter Verstoß gegen die Bindung an Gesetz und Recht” gehandelt haben soll.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office at Naumburg is said to have instigated formal investigation proceedings against four judges (three men and a woman) for perversion of justice. For this reason, the Federal Constitutional court is said to have stated that the panel at the Naumburg Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht) acted “outside its jurisdiction, violating its commitment to statute and law”.

But a note on December 4th indicates the proceedings may be discontinued.

I have been meaning to write about the Görgülü case since before Christmas. The summarizing has been done for me.

The story can be found in the German American Law Journal (via Brett Marston):

In 1999, a woman gave birth to a child. The child’s mother and father put an end to their relationship several months before that date. The mother gave the child up for adoption. The child lived with foster parents from four days after its birth. These persons were willing to adopt the child. The father learned of his child’s birth and release for adoption only in October 1999. He tried to adopt the child but met difficulties as his paternity was not recognized.[5] He obtained parental custody by order of the Wittenberg Local Court in 2001.[6] The foster parents and the Wittenberg Youth Welfare Office, serving as the child’s official guardian, lodged an appeal upon which the Naumburg Higher Regional Court dismissed the father’s application for transfer of custody and excluded rights of access between the father and the child until 2002 on the ground of the best interest of the child.[7]

The case was dealt with by the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) more than once and the decisions and press releases can be found in English as well as German on the court website. The European Court of Human Rights also dealt with the case.

ECHR press release ECHR decision BVerfG 5.4.2005 decision German English BVerfG 20.4.2005 press release German English BVerfG 10.06.2005 decision German English BVerfG 23.06.2005 press release German English

(For links, go to the court’s site and search for the word Naumburg (Görgülü’s name is not given)