Transfer of criminal jurisdiction pursuant to § 13a StPO due to exceptional circumstances

The Federal Court of Criminal Justice (BGH) ordered the transfer of the investigation and adjudication of the case to the Regional Court of Mühlhausen/Arnstadt pursuant to § 13a StPO, leaving no substantive ruling on the merits at this procedural stage. The dispute involved a request to bypass the jurisdiction of the original court, likely due to local public interest or other exceptional circumstances preventing a fair hearing, triggering the transfer mechanism. The decisive legal basis is § 13a of the Code of Criminal Procedure (StPO), which grants the highest criminal court authority to assume jurisdiction or transfer matters to another court to safeguard the integrity of the proceedings.