Franz Kafka – „Der Prozess“

Abstract

This paper examines the fictional justice system in Franz Kafka's novel “The Trial” and derives from it a critique of contemporary criminal justice. Building on the current understanding of the rule of law, it analyzes how the power apparatus in Kafka's work handles criminal proceedings as well as guilt and individual responsibility, and which rule-of-law principles it violates in doing so. The paper then turns to the question of whether this disregard also amounts to a challenge to the principles concerned. It further identifies structural parallels between Kafka's legal world and practices in actual criminal justice (conditional dismissals under § 153a StPO, the summary penal order procedure (Strafbefehlsverfahren), and the treatment of non-German-speaking defendants). Finally, building on the novel's unresolved question of guilt, the paper turns to the contemporary, neuroscience-informed debate on the principle of culpability.