ILAW technicians help Airmen with legal process

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Dymekre Allen
  • 86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- --  International law judge advocate legal technicians look to improve deficiencies in the legal support process by speaking to German authorities, informing service members and providing adequate assistance in solving legal issues for Airmen and local nationals.

Legal technicians act as a go-between for the German law and U.S. personnel. Thy maintain responsibilities that can be broken down into three primary categories: criminal, civil and traffic.

Claudia Weigel and Heide Schmitt, ILAW JA legal technicians, are responsible for the civil and traffic ticket programs, They serve German traffic tickets, subpoenas for court, writ of payment orders, writ of executions, petitions for paternity and divorce, and other civil matters.

"In an ideal world, every contacted person responds after the first e-mail notification within the given deadline," said Matthias Voelker, 86th Airlift Wing German legal advisor. "We just want to help people before it becomes a problem."

The head of the criminal process and waiver of criminal jurisdiction, Petra Bryant, paralegal specialist, handles primarily foreign proceedings. She ensures waivers of criminal jurisdiction concerning service members in the KMC, including serving all the indictments, penal orders, driving while intoxicated tickets, as well as other German criminal processes.

These legal technicians work alongside Voelker, a trained German attorney who provides legal assistance in accordance with German law. As a team, they serve more than 4,000 traffic tickets and several hundred other forms of documentation each year.

"By checking emails regularly and paying attention to due dates, Airmen can help legal improve their work efficiency thus making for a faster process in resolving legal issues," Bryant said. "We would like to drastically decrease the numbers of tickets by the end of the fiscal year."

For more information on legal professionals, visit the Ramstein Law Center or call 314-480-6660/5911.