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In the matter of criminal jurisdiction we paused for a moment at the edict of Milan; but we may at once trace this second or civil branch of episcopal judicature or quasi-judicature down as far as the reign of Charlemagne, when it underwent a fundamental change, and became, if either litigant once chose, no longer a matter of consent but of right.
By a capitulary he provided that either litigant, without the consent of the other party, and not only at the beginning of a suit but at any time during its continuance, might take the cause from lay cognizance and transfer it to the bishop's tribunal.
In the Amisgerichi a private litigant may conduct his own case; but where the object of the litigation exceeds 300 marks (g15), and in appeals from the Amisgerichi to the Land gericht, the plaintiff (and also the defendant) must be represented by an advocate Rechtsanwalt.
However, subject to that, they will do their best to assist any litigant.
His/her fate would be no different from that of a conventional legally aided litigant in modern times.