The Imperial executive power is vested in the King of Prussia, who is president of the Union, and who bears the title of German Emperor (art. ii.). The succession is regulated by the Prussian Constitution, which makes the crown hereditary in the male branch of the royal house by right of primogeniture and ag,natie lineal succession. During the minority of the King the regency is held by the nearest agnate; or, if there be no such agnate, then the Diet shall choose a regent. The King attains his majority at eighteen, and is irresponsible and inviolable. As Emperor he is vested with the power of appoint ing and receiving ambassadors, other public min isters, and consuls; of negotiating treaties; of waging defensive war, and with the consent of the Federal Council, offensive war; of command ing the army and navy; of promulgating the laws and supervising their execution. His powers in legislation have already been enumerated in an other connection. In promulgating the laws he seems to have the power to determine whether they have been constitutionally enacted, and to refuse promulgation if in his opinion they have not; but otherwise he has no veto on Imperial legislation. In supervising the execution of the Imperial laws, which are, for the most part, ad ministered by the State governments at their own expense, he addresses himself, through the Chancellor, to the State executives; and in case of their refusal to carry out the Imperial will, resort is had to federal execution—that is, force is brought to bear upon the recalcitrant State (art. xix.). In the enforcement of the laws, however, for the collection of the Imperial taxes and for the regulation of postal and telegraphic administration, the Emperor does not rely upon the States, but acts through Imperial officials. He appoints all the officials in the Imperial ser vice, and may dismiss them. There is an excep tion, however, in the ease of the Imperial judicial officers, who are appointed by the Emperor upon the nomination of the Federal Council, and who cannot be removed by the Emperor. In addition to these powers, which belong to the president of the Federal Union as Emperor, he has a series of important functions as King of Prussia.
The Constitution requires that all the official acts of the Emperor except those which relate to the command of the army shall be countersigned by an officer called the Imperial Chancellor, ap pointed by the Emperor and removable at his pleasure (art. xvii.). By this act the Chancellor assumes responsibility for the measure, thus in suring the irresponsibility of the Emperor. The Chancellor's responsibility, however, is not to the Legislature, but to the Emperor, for the parliamentary system of government does not exist in the Empire. If, therefore, the Diet refuses to pass his measures or votes a reso lution of censure against him, he does not re sign, but continues to hold his office, and if he thinks the action of the Diet is not the will of the people he may request the Emperor to dissolve it and order a new election. He is president of the Federal Council, and has a seat in the Diet, where he appears as the chief defender of the policy of the Government and the champion of its measures. He is also the head of the Imperial administration, and super vises in the name of the Emperor the execution of the Imperial laws. To aid him there are at present eleven departments of administration, each under the control of a secretary. They are not his colleagues, but his subordinates; for there is no Imperial Cabinet in the sense in which the term is usually understood. A law of 1878 authorizes the Chancellor to appoint a respon sible Vice-Chancellor to aid him when, from pres sure of business or other cause, he is unable to discharge his duties. It should also be noted that another important organ of administration is the Federal Council; in fact, the German com mentators on the Imperial Constitution treat it as an organ of administration rather than as a chamber of the Legislature. Its most important administrative functions are the formulation of rules for the guidance of the administration, the preparation of the ordinances necessary for the execution of the laws, the issuing of decrees for the coercion of recalcitrant States of the Empire. and a wide participation in the appointment of Imperial officials. Under the last head may be
mentioned the nomination of the judges of the Supreme Court of the Empire (Reichsgericht) and the election of the members of the Imperial Court of Accounts.
When we turn to the judicial system of the Empire we find few provisions in the Constitu tion which bear upon the subject—no provision for a Supreme Court or inferior courts, no ap portionment of judicial power between the Em pire on the one hand and the States on the other, according to the federal system of government, and no guarantees of judicial procedure such as constitute so notable a feature in the Constitu tion of the United States. The only judicial tribunal in the Empire which has a constitutional basis is the Federal Council, which is designated as a court for the settlement of public-law con troversies between States and of constitutional conflicts within States, in both cases when ap pealed to by one of the parties. With these exceptions everything relating to the organiza tion, jurisdiction, and procedure of the German courts is left to the regulation of the Legis lature, thus making the judicial system a pure ly statutory creation. It was not until 1877 that the Imperial Legislature passed an act for the organization of the courts (Gerichtsverfassungs ge,setz). At the same time Imperial codes of civil and criminal procedure were completed and, with the Imperial Judiciary Act for the organiza tion of the courts, went into effect October 1, 1879. An Imperial code of criminal law was completed in 1870, and revised in 1871 and 1876, and more recently (1900) an Imperial civil code was put in force.
The result of all this legislation was the crea tion for the Empire of a uniform system of courts organized upon Imperial plan, and apply ing the law, which is not uniform throughout the Empire, according to a uniform system of pro cedure, an achievement which has done much to bring about the unification of the German States. The Imperial Judiciary Act of 1877 created a system of courts of four grades, the lowest being the district court (Anztsgerichte). This is a court of first instance for the trial of petty civil and criminal cases. When hear ing civil cases, the court is held by a single judge; in criminal cases the judge associates with himself two laymen called Schoffen. At present there are over 1900 such courts in the Empire. Next above the districts courts are the territorial courts (Landesgerichte) consisting of from three to five judges, and divided into civil and criminal chambers. They hear appeals from the lower courts, and have a more extensive original jurisdiction in civil and criminal mat ters. For the trial of important criminal cases jury courts are constituted periodically in con nection with the territorial courts. They con sist of a bench of three judges and twelve jurors. At present there are over 170 Landesgerichte in the Empire. Next in the hierarchy are the su perior courts (Oberlandesgerichte), likewise di vided into civil and criminal senates, the usual number of judges in a criminal senate being seven. They have no original jurisdiction, being exclusively courts of appeal from the territorial courts. At present there are 28 superior courts in the Empire, 15 of which are in Prussia. As a result of a special provision Bavaria alone has an Oberstes Landesgericht of 15 judges, which has its seat at Munich. Standing at the top of the judicial hierarchy is the Imperial Court (Reichsgericht), which has its seat at Leipzig in Saxony. It is composed of four crim inal senates and six civil senates, with an ag gregate membership of over 90 judges. The judges are appointed by the Emperor, upon the nomination of the Federal Council. Their tenure is for life, and they are irremovable by any authority except the court itself acting as a disciplinary tribunal. The Imperial Court has no original jurisdiction in civil matters. Its ap pellate jurisdiction in civil matters extends to cases appealed from the Superior Courts, the Con sular Courts, and the Imperial Patent Office Ad ministrative Court. The criminal jurisdiction of the Imperial Court extends in first and last in stance to all cases of high treason against the Emperor or the Empire, to appeals in certain cases from the decisions of the territorial courts and the jury courts, and to appeals from decisions of the Consular Courts.