Amtsgericht

An Amtsgericht in Germany is an official court. These courts form the lowest level of the so-called 'ordinary jurisdiction' of the German judiciary, which is responsible for most criminal and civil judicial matters. The German Amtsgericht may be compared to the magistrates' courts in England and Wales, although it has much broader sentencing powers. Its name derives from the Amt as a denomination for an administrative and court district in many of the territories of the Holy Roman Empire.