Düsseldorf/Cologne (dpa/lnw) - lay judges wanted: Many municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia are currently intensively recruiting lay judges on a voluntary basis. A total of around 10,000 lay judges will be needed at the district and regional courts in NRW for the next five-year term of office, as the German Association of lay judges (DVS) announced when asked by the dpa. Since the list of proposals has to contain twice as many candidates, a good 20,000 applicants are needed. In criminal proceedings, lay judges administer justice on an equal footing with professional judges "in the name of the people".
Many cities are still desperately looking for interested parties. Essen, for example, needs 1,600 people for the selection - according to a spokeswoman, only 700 applications have been received so far. Almost 600 applicants are being sought in Aachen, and 250 have registered so far. In Münster and Bonn, around half of the candidates are still missing. The application deadlines are determined by the municipalities.
According to a spokesman, Cologne had already reached the required number of almost 3,300 candidates by the application deadline there at the end of January, so that no one had to be committed. The city advertised the office in the media and also wrote to citizens at random to arouse their interest. However, applications as youth aldermen will be accepted in Cologne until April 30th.
