{"id":4900,"date":"2023-03-15T06:42:06","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T06:42:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jhcolorpowdercoating.com\/?p=4900"},"modified":"2023-03-31T15:58:21","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T15:58:21","slug":"family-court-judge-gregor-dehmer-answers-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jhcolorpowdercoating.com\/family-court-judge-gregor-dehmer-answers-questions.html","title":{"rendered":"Family court judge gregor dehmer answers questions about his work at the district court"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Family<\/div>\n

Many judges deal with factual matters that lie in the past. Not so in family law – because here decisions are made that have an impact on the future of families and children.<\/p>\n

However, family courts do not only deal with divorces and child cases. In an interview, family court judge Gregor Dehmer from Cologne Local Court reveals how varied the work in the family court is – and what skills students interested in family law should have.<\/p>\n

Mr. Dehmer, for many law students, being a judge is the career goal par excellence. As a family court judge, however, you will certainly conduct highly emotional proceedings and come into contact with broken families or traumatized children. Why did you become enthusiastic about the profession despite these circumstances??<\/h2>\n

In order to prevent misunderstandings, it should perhaps first be clarified that "the family judge" does not represent an independent professional profile alongside "the judge". Gem. § 23b Abs.1 GVG, divisions for family cases (family courts) are formed at the district courts. These are the judges responsible for family matters. Thus we are first of all (only) district judges who (also) handle a department for family cases.<\/p>\n

It is true that as a family court judge you are sometimes much "closer to the front", in that you sometimes gain very deep insights into the living conditions of a wide variety of families. Of course, it also happens that one witnesses very bad circumstances or very tragic fates. However, it is precisely these circumstances that make the job so appealing – at least in some cases you have the chance to make a difference and change things for the better.<\/p>\n

In general, this is the big difference between the work of a family court judge and the "classical" work of a judge in civil or criminal law. Normally, the judge's view or. the judge is directed into the past.<\/p>\n

The civil judge is presented with past facts and is asked to decide who is right. Strictly speaking, the civil judge does not ask who is right, but only which party is right under the given procedural circumstances. It can happen that a party is defeated only because he or she cannot prove certain circumstances. The criminal judge is also faced with an event in the past and asks whether the accused has committed a crime. Again, strictly speaking, they ask whether the defendant can be proven to have committed a crime under the given procedural circumstances.<\/p>\n

In child cases – i.e. proceedings, parental care, contact with the child, endangering the welfare of the child, etc. The family court judge takes a look at the current situation in the case in question. This then raises the questions of what is not going well and what needs to change and how, so that things can go better again. In this respect, the activity is directed towards the future and entails a very high level of responsibility. This is because decisions are sometimes made that can influence the entire future life of a child – for example, the question of whether a child can remain in his or her family or must be removed from it.<\/p>\n

But the job also brings with it the sense that what one does has a deeper meaning than merely handling proceedings.<\/p>\n

Another attraction of working as a family court judge is the breadth of the field. If you are not familiar with this area, you will usually only associate the family court with divorces and child custody cases. But the work at the family court also includes the complete area of violence protection – regardless of whether it is violence within the family – parentage cases, adoptions, matrimonial home and household matters, and much more besides. One is then active in several procedural systems.<\/p>\n

In addition, social life as such is very diverse, and this diversity also means a diversity of case types that eventually come to the family courts. I know colleagues who have been working at the family court for more than 20 years and yet still report on cases that are completely new to them. One only has to think of the recent suggestions to the family courts to prohibit schools from imposing a mask obligation on pupils, as this is detrimental to the welfare of children. Also, family law often has international aspects. For example, when maintenance has to be claimed abroad or in the area of international child abduction. All in all, the work as a family court judge is one that entails everything. Interesting legal issues as well as exciting factual situations.<\/p>\n

In your studies and exam preparation, family law tends to be treated as a secondary area – when did you discover your interest in this area of law??<\/h2>\n

I did both state exams in Bavaria. There, the main features of family law and family procedural law are part of the compulsory material for the second state examination. As a result, this was also the subject of the working groups in the legal clerkship. Here I came into contact with the field of law for the first time and found it quite interesting. However, I did not pursue this further at that time. There was enough to do with preparing for the exam and then starting my career as a judge. When it became clear during my time as a probationary judge at the District Court of Cologne that I would like to stay there (at that time I was working on civil cases), the personnel officer at the time asked me in which areas of law or family law I would like to work. departments I would be working in. I answered out of pure interest that I could very well imagine working as a family court judge or as a detention and investigative judge.<\/p>\n

At that time, I had not yet done either of these jobs, but I found them both exciting. That's how it came about that I took over a family department after one and a half years in the judiciary – without really knowing what was in store for me. However, I then very quickly felt at home in this area of law. I was also an investigating and custodial judge for a while and then worked as a department head in court administration. However, I have found that there is no other area that I have enjoyed as much as family law, so that I have since returned to it.<\/p>\n

What does a typical working day look like for you??<\/h2>\n

The typical workday is not fundamentally different from the typical workday of any judge or magistrate. As a rule, I first process all the files that are submitted to me (so-called "family cases"). departmental work). When processing these files, the question then always arises as to what steps are to be taken next in order to bring the respective proceedings to a decision. These are then arranged. Depending on the type of proceedings, it can happen that many telephone calls have to be made, for example with employees of the Youth Welfare Office, guardians ad litem or closed child and adolescent psychiatric facilities.<\/p>\n

Once the day-to-day department work is done, I either prepare for the upcoming meetings, hearings, etc., or I call the court. or I set aside decisions. In addition, there are usually one or two meeting days a week on which I conduct the relevant appointments. Depending on the proceedings, it may also happen that I have appointments outside the court. For example, the procedural rules of the FamFG make it possible for me to conduct child hearings in the home environment of the children. Another example would be cases where minors need to be acutely placed in closed psychiatric care. Here, the hearing usually takes place in the psychiatric facility.<\/p>\n

What do you particularly like about your job – and which tasks or areas do you dislike less??<\/h2>\n

First of all, what I like about my job is the special characteristics that come with being a judge. I find it a huge advantage to be able to decide for myself when and where I want to work, in which order I process the cases, etc.<\/p>\n

When it comes specifically to what I particularly appreciate about my work as a family court judge as opposed to working as a judge in other areas, one is the particular diversity of the legal field. On the other hand, it is the circumstance that in the proceedings according to FamFG as a family judge one is clearly more "master of the proceedings" than in proceedings according to StPO or ZPO. The proceedings according to FamFG are dominated by the principle of official investigation and allow for free evidence. There are therefore many ways of approaching certain proceedings and not just one way. This makes the activity more flexible.<\/p>\n

There is actually little that I don't like about my job. Most of the time, these are specific individual proceedings rather than specific areas of concern. The family court system is regulated in such a way that proceedings concerning the same family always end up with the same department. Sometimes certain "permanent clients" develop in the process. It can sometimes be very frustrating to try everything to get the parties back on track and still achieve absolutely nothing. For example, I have experienced families who have fought such a highly escalated conflict that they have completely ruined themselves economically and the children have completely broken off contact with one of the parents.<\/p>\n

How do you perceive the work-life balance in your job??<\/h2>\n

I perceive the work-life balance as good. However, it must be said that I have almost ten years of professional experience and have become familiar with my department. Generally speaking, as a beginner in the profession of judge, you will spend about as much time working as if you had started in a large law firm. However, the workload decreases if the same department is dealt with for long enough. Because then, at some point, you will know all of your cases and have followed them from the moment they arrive at the court.<\/p>\n

In addition, professional experience and legal knowledge in the area being worked on also increase, so that one simply becomes faster in the processing.<\/p>\n

However, there are always phases when there is more going on. For example, in family cases there are always more applications before the vacations (contact, problems with children traveling abroad, etc.).). On the other hand, there are phases in which there is less going on.<\/p>\n

What advice would you give to law students: What qualities should a good family court judge have in addition to legal expertise??<\/h2>\n

A good family court judge should be able to empathize with the concerns, problems and circumstances of the parties involved in the proceedings. Particularly in highly contentious situations, one often conducts proceedings involving the same family again and again over many years. A long-term stabilization of the situation or even a solution to the prevailing problems can often be achieved "better" if you can get through to the parties involved in the proceedings at the hearing dates. For this, it is extremely beneficial if the parties involved in the procedure feel understood.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, you should have what used to be called a "thick skin" and is nowadays often discussed under the keyword "resilience". The job is also characterized by the fact that you have to deal with highly conflictual proceedings. Some of those involved in the process behave accordingly. One must be able to endure this. In addition, sometimes you yourself become the target of the displeasure of those involved. I myself was also already threatened by parties involved in the proceedings, so that security measures were necessary. If you take this too much to heart, you won't last long as a family judge or magistrate.<\/p>\n

Mr. Dehmer, thank you very much for your time and your answers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many judges deal with factual matters that lie in the past. Not so in family law – because here decisions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nFamily court judge gregor dehmer answers questions about his work at the district court - Jhcolorpowdercoating<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jhcolorpowdercoating.com\/family-court-judge-gregor-dehmer-answers-questions.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Family court judge gregor dehmer answers questions about his work at the district court - Jhcolorpowdercoating\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Many judges deal with factual matters that lie in the past. 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