Zivilrechtspflege durch externe Funktionsträger

Non-civil servants are private persons who assume responsibility for duties in civil proceedings which the state would otherwise have to have carried out by its own employees. The private persons concerned are notaries, who are given sole responsibility for the authentication of a contract, and insolvency administrators, sequestrators and administrators of a deceased's estate. Nicola Preuß examines the special official functions of these people, their basic duties, the access to their office and their supervision by the state. The selection of insolvency administrators is an issue which is of particular current interest, since in August 2004 the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany decided that applicants can demand to have a straightforward and verifiable selection procedure, which is what the author of this study is asking for as well.