As is well known, the French criminal code served as a model in many ways for the reformed German criminal proceedings of the 19th century, which have largely remained the same up until the present day. Since then, both criminal codes have converged in some ways and diverged in others, so that a comparative study of problems at the central stage of criminal proceedings today promise enlightening insights. The contributions to this volume deal with seven topical, fundamental questions concerning the arrangement of the main hearing in criminal cases, each from a German and a French perspective. These are: the principle of collegiate responsibility, the principle of directness of evidence, how to deal with faulty evidence, the conclusiveness of the trial transcript, media publicity and the court hearing, consensual terminations of proceedings and lay participation.

Prof. Dr. Mathias Schmoeckel, Jahrgang 1963, lehrt seit 1999 Rechtsgeschichte und Zivilrecht an der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn. Seine geschichtlichen Forschungsschwerpunkte liegen im Beweisrecht, im neueren Völker- und Zivilrecht sowie im Einfluss der Reformation auf das Recht.