aria alone there is an Oberste
Landesgericht, with twenty-one judges. Its relation
to the Bavarian Oberlandesgerichte is that of an
appellate tribunal.]

*260. The Reichsgericht.*--At the apex of the system stands the
Reichsgericht (created by law of October i, 1879), which, apart from
certain administrative, military, and consular courts,[355] is the
only German tribunal of an exclusively Imperial, or federal,
character. It exercises original jurisdiction in cases involving
treason against the Empire and hears appeals from the consular courts
and from the state courts on questions of Imperial law. Its members,
ninety-two in number, are appointed by the Emperor for life, on
nomination of the Bundesrath, and they are organized in six civil and
four criminal senates. Sittings are held invariably at Leipzig, in the
kingdom of Saxony.

[Footnote 355: The highest administrative court is
the Oberverwaltungsgericht, whose members are
appointed for life. Under specified conditions, the
"committees" of circles, cities, and districts
exercise inferior administrative jurisdiction. For
the adjustment of disputed or doubtful
jurisdictions there stands between the ordinary and
the administrative tribunals a Gerichtshof fuer
Kompetenz-konflikte, or Court of Conflicts,
consisting of eleven judges appointed for life.]

All judges in the courts of the states are appointed by the sovereigns
of the respective states. The Imperial law prescribes a minimum of
qualifications based on professional study and experience, the state
being left free to impose any additional qualifications that may be
desired. All judges are appointed for life and all receive a salary
which may not be reduced; and there are important guarantees against
arbitrary transfer from one position to another, as well as other
practices that might operate to diminish the judge's impartiality and
independence.[356]

[Footnote 356: On the German judiciary see Howard,
The German Empire, Chap. 9; Laband, Das Staatsrecht
des deutschen Reiches, Secs. 83-94; C. Morhain, De
l'empire allemand (Paris, 1886), Chap. 9.]

CHAPTER XII