The legal system, judges and the law courts

• All judges had to be a member of the newly set up National Socialist League for the Maintenance of the Law. If the judges gave verdicts that displeased the Nazis, they could have their membership removed, effectively sacking them as judges.
• The Nazis abolished trial by jury. The tame judges would decide innocence and guilt as well as the punishments.
• Finally, Hitler set up a separate court system for ‘political crimes’ known as the ‘People’s Court’. Judges for these courts were hand-picked and trials held secretly with no right of appeal.
• Punishments became harsher. Between 1934 and 1939 534 people were executed for political offences, compared to eight between 1930 and 1932. The number of crimes that carried the death penalty increased from three to 46 between 1933 and 1939.