Quote Originally Posted by KukriKhan
How are judges selected in Germany? Election? Appointment? By whom? For how long? How do you get rid of one?
Well that depends. There are different procedures in every state of Germany. But generally speaking, judges are appointed by the regional Department of Justice or a committee, which consists of some members of the regional parliament. Judges are appointed for a testing period which lasts 3 years, IIRC. After that they are appointed for lifetime if they have proven themselves. Once a judge reaches this point he has a quite strong position, because he can only get fired if he commits serious crimes. Judges are generally subject to disciplinarian sanctions. But this thing is very limited due to the fact that judges are granted independence in their job.