§ 140 Abs. 1 Nr. 2 StPO
Serious criminal offence
You are accused of an offence that carries a minimum sentence of one year’s imprisonment, such as robbery or dealing in a significant quantity (nicht geringe Menge) of drugs.
Court-appointed counsel: choose your own
Court-appointed defence in AachenWhen the law requires you to have a defence lawyer, the court appoints one. You have a say in who that is: you may name a lawyer you trust. Karolin Hagemann de Grzymala, LL.M., certified specialist lawyer for criminal law, takes on court appointments in Aachen.
Court-appointed counsel is not left to chance.You name the lawyer you trust.
Court-appointed counsel is not a second-class defence.
Court-appointed counsel (Pflichtverteidiger) is a defence lawyer appointed by the court because the law requires you to have a defence in your proceedings (§ 140 StPO). This applies, for example, to every allegation of a serious criminal offence (Verbrechen), whenever someone is brought before a judge for a decision on detention, and to proceedings before the lay judges’ court (Schöffengericht) or the Regional Court (Landgericht). The court must appoint the lawyer you name unless there is good cause not to (§ 142 Abs. 5 StPO). The state treasury pays the fees at first.
When you are entitled to court-appointed counsel
Court-appointed counsel is not a welfare benefit. Whether a defence lawyer is appointed for you does not depend on your income but on the type of proceedings. The law expressly lists the main cases of mandatory defence (notwendige Verteidigung, § 140 Abs. 1 StPO):
§ 140 Abs. 1 Nr. 1 StPO
Lay judges’ court or Regional Court
The trial is expected to take place before the lay judges’ court, the Regional Court or the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht).
§ 140 Abs. 1 Nr. 4 StPO
Decision on detention
You are brought before a judge for a decision on pre-trial detention or provisional committal to a psychiatric hospital.
§ 140 Abs. 1 Nr. 5 StPO
Held in an institution
You are held in an institution by court order, for example serving a prison sentence in another case.
§ 140 Abs. 1 Nr. 3 StPO
Professional ban
The proceedings may lead to a ban on practising your profession (Berufsverbot).
§ 140 Abs. 1 Nr. 6, 7 StPO
Psychiatric committal
Committal for an assessment of your mental state, or special proceedings for a hospital order (Sicherungsverfahren), are being considered.
§ 140 Abs. 1 Nr. 9 StPO
Lawyer for the injured party
A lawyer has been assigned to the injured party or to a joint prosecutor (Nebenkläger).
§ 140 Abs. 1 Nr. 11 StPO
Disability
You have a visual, hearing or speech impairment and apply for counsel to be appointed.
Good to know
There is also a general rule: a defence is mandatory if the seriousness of the offence, the expected penalty or a difficult factual or legal situation requires it, or if you are clearly unable to defend yourself (§ 140 Abs. 2 StPO). Courts usually treat the expected penalty as serious if a prison sentence of around one year or more is likely. For young people, there are additional cases, for example if a youth custody sentence is expected (§ 68 JGG).
Naming the lawyer you want
Before the court appoints counsel, it must give you the opportunity to name a defence lawyer yourself. It sets a deadline for this (§ 142 Abs. 5 StPO). The request usually comes by post, and the deadline is often short. In detention cases, it is even quicker: you are often asked shortly before you are brought before the judge.
The court must appoint the person you name unless there is good cause not to. Good cause also exists if the lawyer is not available, or not available in time. So speak to the firm first. If you let the deadline pass, the court chooses from a directory kept by the Federal Bar (Bundesrechtsanwaltskammer, § 142 Abs. 6 StPO).
Sample wording for naming your lawyer
One short sentence is enough. Write to the authority that set you the deadline and give the case number. In German, for example: „In dem Verfahren mit dem Aktenzeichen … benenne ich Rechtsanwältin Karolin Hagemann de Grzymala, LL.M., Aachen, als meine Pflichtverteidigerin und beantrage, sie mir als Pflichtverteidigerin zu bestellen.“ This means: “In the proceedings with case number …, I name Rechtsanwältin Karolin Hagemann de Grzymala, LL.M., Aachen, as my court-appointed counsel and apply for her to be appointed.” Add the date and your signature. Call us briefly beforehand. We will then contact the court directly and confirm that we are available.
Applying for court-appointed counsel: timing and procedure
You do not have to wait for the court to contact you. As soon as you have been informed of the allegation, for example by a summons or by a questionnaire setting out the allegation, you can apply for counsel to be appointed. A decision must then be made without delay, at the latest before your next questioning (§ 141 Abs. 1 StPO). Before charges are brought, you send the application to the police or the public prosecutor’s office. After that, you send it to the court (§ 142 Abs. 1 StPO). Even without an application, counsel is appointed if you are to be brought before a judge for a decision on detention, if you are held in an institution, if you are clearly unable to defend yourself, and at the latest when the indictment is served on you for comment (§ 141 Abs. 2 StPO). An early application has an advantage: your lawyer can inspect the file and comment before anyone decides whether to bring charges. If we are already acting for you as your privately retained lawyer, we can apply for the appointment ourselves. This is how it works:
- 01
First conversation
You or your relatives call us. We clarify whether this is a case of mandatory defence and whether we can take on the defence.
- 02
Naming or application
You name us to the court or the public prosecutor’s office, or we apply for the appointment on your behalf (§§ 141 Abs. 1, 142 Abs. 5 StPO).
- 03
Decision
The public prosecutor’s office passes on the application with its opinion. During the investigation, the Local Court (Amtsgericht) where the public prosecutor’s office is based decides. After charges are brought, the presiding judge of the competent court decides (§ 142 Abs. 3 StPO).
- 04
Inspection of the file
After the appointment, we apply to inspect the file (Akteneinsicht) and discuss with you what the investigation has found so far (§ 147 StPO).
- 05
Defence to the end
The appointment lasts until the case is discontinued or the proceedings are finally concluded, so it also covers appeals by way of Berufung and Revision (§ 143 Abs. 1 StPO).
Changing court-appointed counsel
If someone you did not choose has been appointed for you, you are not bound to that lawyer forever. The law provides several ways to change (§ 143a StPO):
§ 143a Abs. 2 Nr. 1 StPO
Within three weeks
If the court did not appoint the lawyer you named within the deadline, or if you only had a short time to choose, you can name a different lawyer within three weeks of being notified of the appointment.
§ 143a Abs. 2 Nr. 3 StPO
Breakdown of trust
If the relationship of trust has broken down for good, or an adequate defence is not ensured for another reason, new court-appointed counsel is appointed.
§ 143a Abs. 1 StPO
Instructing a lawyer privately
If you instruct a privately retained lawyer and that lawyer accepts the case, the existing appointment is usually revoked.
§ 143a Abs. 3 StPO
Appeal on points of law
For an appeal on points of law (Revision), you can name new court-appointed counsel if you apply no later than one week after the period for stating the grounds of appeal begins.
Three weeks after the appointment
Do not wait if someone you do not know has been assigned to you. Once the deadline has passed, the only options are usually a breakdown of trust or a privately retained lawyer. Courts set a high bar for a breakdown of trust. Mere differences of opinion are usually not enough.
Call directly
+49 163 8461632You reach the lawyer in person. Everything you say is covered by professional confidentiality from the first call.
Who pays for court-appointed counsel?
The state treasury pays the fees of court-appointed counsel at first. Court-appointed counsel may not ask you for an advance (§ 52 Abs. 1 RVG). Who bears the costs in the end depends on the outcome of the proceedings.
If you are convicted
If you are convicted, you bear the costs of the proceedings (§ 465 Abs. 1 StPO). These include the fees that the state treasury paid to court-appointed counsel. So the state only pays in advance. If you are convicted of only some of the allegations, the costs are divided (§§ 465 Abs. 2, 467 Abs. 1 StPO). In proceedings against young people, the court can decide not to impose any costs at all (§ 74 JGG).
If you are acquitted or the case is discontinued
If you are acquitted, the state treasury bears the costs of the proceedings and your necessary expenses (§ 467 Abs. 1 StPO). You then pay nothing for court-appointed counsel. There are exceptions, for example if you falsely incriminated yourself (§ 467 Abs. 3 StPO). If the case is discontinued in return for a condition, such as a payment, your own expenses are not refunded (§ 467 Abs. 5 StPO). If you had also agreed a fee, the state treasury only refunds the statutory fees, even after an acquittal (§ 464a Abs. 2 Nr. 2 StPO). There is more on this on the page costs of a criminal defence.
Court-appointed and privately retained counsel compared
Court-appointed counsel is not a second-class defence. Court-appointed counsel has the same rights as a privately retained lawyer (Wahlverteidiger): they inspect the file, apply for evidence to be taken, visit you in custody and represent only your interests, not those of the court. The differences lie elsewhere:
Start
You can instruct a privately retained lawyer at any time, even if it is not a case of mandatory defence. Court-appointed counsel is only appointed in the cases set out by law.
§ 3a RVG
Fees
Court-appointed counsel receives fixed statutory amounts from the state treasury. These are usually lower than the fees of a privately retained lawyer, who charges under the Lawyers’ Remuneration Act (RVG) or under a fee agreement.
§ 58 Abs. 3 RVG
Additional agreement
A fee can also be agreed with court-appointed counsel if you wish to do so of your own free will. Payments are then partly offset against the fees from the state treasury.
Commitment
You can change a privately retained lawyer at any time. Court-appointed counsel can only be changed under the conditions of § 143a StPO.
§ 143 Abs. 2 StPO
End
The appointment can be revoked if it is no longer a case of mandatory defence, for example after release from pre-trial detention.
Good to know
So if you are entitled to court-appointed counsel, you do not have to accept whoever the court chooses. You name the lawyer you trust, and the state treasury pays in advance.
Pre-trial detention and homicide cases
Naming a lawyer is especially urgent in detention cases. If an arrested person is to be brought before the custody judge (Haftrichter), a defence is mandatory from that moment (§§ 140 Abs. 1 Nr. 4, 141 Abs. 2 Nr. 1 StPO). The suspect must name the lawyer personally, usually to the custody judge. Relatives can call us beforehand so that the suspect knows whom to name. How being brought before the judge, the grounds for detention and the detention review fit together is explained on the page arrest and pre-trial detention.
An allegation of murder or manslaughter is always a case of mandatory defence. Both are serious criminal offences, and the trial takes place before the homicide chamber (Schwurgericht) of the Regional Court (§ 140 Abs. 1 Nr. 1, 2 StPO). In extensive proceedings, the court can appoint up to two additional court-appointed lawyers so that the proceedings can be conducted without delay (§ 144 StPO). You also have a say in choosing these additional lawyers. There is more on this under homicide.
How we defend you
Karolin Hagemann de Grzymala, LL.M., certified specialist lawyer for criminal law in Aachen
Karolin Hagemann de Grzymala, LL.M., is a certified specialist lawyer for criminal law (Fachanwältin für Strafrecht) and a former board member of the Strafverteidigervereinigung NRW e.V., an association of defence lawyers in North Rhine-Westphalia. She takes on court appointments before the Local and Regional Courts in Aachen and handles them personally. For you, this means:
- Quick clarity. In the first conversation, we tell you whether court-appointed counsel is an option and whether we can attend the hearings.
- Naming and application. We contact the court, make the application and keep track of the deadlines, including the three-week deadline for a change of counsel.
- Inspection of the file. We read the investigation file and discuss it with you before you comment on the allegation.
- Prison visits. If you are in pre-trial detention, we visit you in prison (JVA) and prepare a detention review or a complaint against detention.
- Plain words on costs. We explain what costs you may face if you are convicted and what applies if you are acquitted.
Meetings take place at the office in Aachen, in prison or by video conference. The language of the consultation is agreed at first contact, and a sworn interpreter can take part if needed. If you have received a summons, the page on police summons as a suspect will also help. To agree on naming us, call or write to us via the contact page.
Court-appointed counsel in Aachen
Court-appointed counsel is appointed by the court. You can name the lawyer you want there, even if the lawyer’s office is in another city.
Aachen
In the Aachen area, appointments are made by the Local Court Aachen and the Regional Court Aachen. The office is a few minutes from the Aachen Justice Centre (Justizzentrum).
Criminal defence lawyer in AachenRelated topics
Further questions that often become important in this situation.
Frequently asked questions
Answers to questions about the appointment, changing counsel and the costs of court-appointed counsel.
ChoiceMay I name a lawyer from another city?
Yes. The law does not require the defence lawyer to have an office where the court sits. What matters is that the lawyer is available in time. Otherwise, the court can refuse the appointment for good cause (§ 142 Abs. 5 StPO). The firm is based in Aachen and defends clients in Aachen.
CostsDo I have to pay for court-appointed counsel if I am convicted?
As a rule, yes. The state treasury pays the fees at first. If you are convicted, you must bear the costs of the proceedings, and these include those fees (§ 465 StPO). The amounts are set by law and are usually lower than the fees of a privately retained defence lawyer.
AcquittalWho pays for court-appointed counsel if I am acquitted?
The state treasury. If you are acquitted, the costs of the proceedings and your necessary expenses are borne by the state (§ 467 Abs. 1 StPO). You then pay nothing for court-appointed counsel.
ApplicationCan I apply for court-appointed counsel before charges are brought?
Yes, if it is a case of mandatory defence and you have been informed of the allegation. You make the application to the police or the public prosecutor’s office. A decision must be made without delay, at the latest before your next questioning (§§ 141 Abs. 1, 142 Abs. 1 StPO).
ChangeI have been assigned court-appointed counsel I do not know. What can I do?
If the lawyer you wanted was passed over, or you had little time to choose, you can name a different lawyer within three weeks of the appointment (§ 143a Abs. 2 Nr. 1 StPO). Call us in good time so that the application is made within the deadline.
QualityIs court-appointed counsel worse than a privately retained lawyer?
No. Court-appointed and privately retained defence lawyers have the same rights in the proceedings. The difference lies in the appointment by the court and in the fees. Because you may name the person yourself, you can also choose a lawyer you trust as your court-appointed counsel.
Speak to us before you speak to anyone else.
A first conversation clarifies where you stand and what needs to happen next.
+49 163 8461632