This historically comparative search for evidence reverses the standard statements of Art. 101 subsection 1 sentence 2 of the German Basic Law (“GG”): Lawful judges without a state governed by the rule of law? The objective of the arguments is to prove that the idea of the lawful judge initially developed in Europe independently of the modern idea of a state governed by the rule of law. The evidence is shown by means of a historical comparison of the binding of the court organization to the law in England, France and Germany.