What matters are dealt with by the district court?

Civil procedure

In disputes, it is a question of settling disputes between private individuals or companies impartially before a court of law. For example, it may be a matter of damages, an inheritance dispute, the dissolution of a sale or the rent of an apartment. District courts also issue enforceable judgments in undisputed debt and eviction cases.

The section on civil procedure can be found here .

Criminal proceedings

In criminal cases, the person charged with, for example, theft, drink-driving, assault or other punishable act is summoned to the district court. The criminal proceedings are often accompanied by a claim for damages by the victim or the injured party.

Criminal cases are handled either at a district court hearing or in writing on the basis of material, without the parties to the proceedings being summoned to the court.

More about criminal proceedings here .

Petitionary matters

Petitionary matters include divorce and decision-making on child custody or debt restructuring.

More about petitionary matters here .

Compositions at proceedings

The court must act flexibly and efficiently. Therefore, the district court may, by law, handle cases in several different compositions, depending on the nature and complexity of the case under consideration. In a district court hearing, cases must be handled in a centralised and continuous manner. The same judges and lay judges will handle the case from the beginning to the end. In some exceptional cases, the composition of the district court may give its decision if the lawyer chairperson and one lay judge are present.

The most common compositions are:

• hearing with a single judge
• the composition with lay judges; and
• the composition of three judges.

The hearing of a single judge shall be competent, for example, in matters to be dealt with in a written procedure, in criminal cases where the maximum sentence permitted by law is four years, in the preparatory hearing of civil cases and in proceedings to be held immediately in connection with it.

Only criminal cases are solved in a composition with lay judges. The composition with lay judges consists of one le-gally trained chairperson (i.e. a judge of the district court) and two lay judges. In exceptional cases, the composition may be supplemented by one lawyer and/or one lay judge.

The composition of three judges, i.e. of lawyers, resolves disputes and criminal cases in which the nature of the case or other special reason advocates it. The idea is that the most legal disputes and offences would, as a rule, be decid-ed by three legally trained judges.

Lay judges

The lay judges are not legally trained. Before taking up their duties, they, like other members of the district court, must provide a judicial oath. They must be absolutely impartial. They administer justice, interpret the law.

Each lay judge has autonomous decision-making power and, if necessary, the decision shall be made by voting.

The lay judge also has the right to receive compensation for his/her work. He/She is paid a session fee from state funds and compensation for loss of income and travel expenses.

A lay judge is considered to be both a civil servant under criminal law and a civil servant under liability law, as is the case with other elected public officials.

Further information on lay judges .

Deliberation in camera and voting

Once the case has been thoroughly dealt with in the district court, the parties and the public must leave the court room. The deliberation in camera begins.

When the district court is deliberating the decision, the legally trained chairperson will first explain to the lay judges the questions raised in the case and the provisions applicable to them, that is to say, what the law says about the case. Then he/she makes his own point of view.

If any of the members of the court dissents with the chairman, the vote shall be taken, after which each member shall express his or her opinion in the order of office, from the youngest to the oldest. In such cases, the majority's position shall be decisive. By the time the votes are equal in criminal matters, the judgment will be a more lenient outcome for the accused, and in other matters the opinion supported by the chairperson.

The manner in which the district court has arrived at its decision is evident from the grounds for the judgment. In the event of a vote, the opinion of the loser shall be recorded as an annex to the judgment.