The article examines the formation and development of public courts in the German Democratic Republic in comparison with similar processes in the USSR. The main stages of this process in the GDR followed the Soviet model. The creation of public courts began around 1952, at the same time when comrades’ courts were restored in the USSR after the Great Patriotic War. Subsequently, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and then in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the public courts in both countries were reformed. However, from the very beginning, the public courts in the GDR differed from the Soviet comrades’ courts in several respects. These differences were due to the specific conditions in the GDR, and, presumably, contributed to the successful functioning of the public courts in the GDR up until its accession to the Federal Republic of Germany.