Ruth Herz Judge Playing Judge Ruth Herz: Reflections on the Performance of Judicial Authority

Authors

Leslie J. Moran, Birkbeck College, London, UK
Beverley Skeggs, Goldsmiths College, London, UK
Ruth Herz, University of Oxford, UK

Abstract

Between 2001 and 2005, ‘Judge Ruth Herz’ appeared in a popular German daytime reality television court show, Das Jugendgericht (The Youth Court). German reality television court shows, of which there are several (Machura 2009), draw heavily on a US format. A key dimension of this format, and central to its reality effect, is the use of real judges to perform the role of judge in the show (Christie 1999; Kleinhans and Morris 2004; Kohm, 2006; Lorenzo-Dus 2008). The best known US example is Judge Judy, in which the title role is performed by Judith Sheindlin, an ex-New York family court judge. The Youth Court follows this model.

Recommended Citation

Moran, Leslie J.; Skeggs, Beverley; and Herz, Ruth, Ruth Herz Judge Playing Judge Ruth Herz: Reflections on the Performance of Judicial Authority, Law Text Culture, 14, 2010, 198-219.
Available at:https://ro.uow.edu.au/ltc/vol14/iss1/12