As you know, of the Empire's two great courts of law, only the Aulic Council is directly dependent upon the emperor, whereas the Imperial Chamber Court in Wetzlar is almost entirely dependent upon the estates. Therefore, one was first concerned with the reform of the first of these courts of law, where a great number of functional and personnel abuses and inadequacies had crept in. These had led the imperial estates, even those with the best intentions, to lose almost all trust in the court. They also provided the pretext, often very poorly based on truth, but hardly less compelling, for frequent recourse to the Imperial Diet, a recently discovered method of bypassing all rulings of the imperial courts, even the most just ones. After a long and earnest consultation, one attempted to remedy the most significant and most damaging of these failures through a decree that was publicized at the reintroduction of the members who constitute this court. I put off this action long enough for everything to be prepared for such a necessary reform. This ordinance, which is printed and in everyone's hand, has had felicitous success in the Empire. In addition to the general agreement, this [ordinance] somehow revived the lost trust. There would have already been much greater progress were it just as easy to remedy the personnel problems, and were it not the case that the best laws sometimes remain ineffective because of a failure to implement them. This is still one of the objects of my daily attention and is part of the very thankless work that accompanies the imperial dignity. Impartiality is the foundation of an authority of supreme justice. Therefore, I strictly forbade all gifts, regardless of what they were called, even if they were customary in the past, and I imposed the penalty of dismissal on those who violated the law. For the quicker processing of cases, one more work day was added to the week (and even a weekly hearing on one afternoon), and the daily consultation was extended by an hour. Additionally, to the extent possible, the procedures for written and oral arguments and the procedures for voting were improved and shortened. Everything, however, depends on the wise leadership of the president, who alone can ensure the success and the observation of the issued laws.
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