Einverständliche Gefährdungssachverhalte und deren Sittenwidrigkeit

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Brandt

The decisions of the Federal Court of Justice in 2013 and 2015 revived the debate on the scope of Section 228 of the German Criminal Code. This doctoral thesis takes a detailed look at the current state of the discourse and develops its own, restrictive approach to the principles of morality. In particular, it will be examined which groups of cases are to be subject to consent at all, and thus also to Section 228 of the German Criminal Code. In this respect, it becomes apparent that some cases are already to be treated as autonomous self-endangerment and thus escape the question of a violation of the principles of morality.

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 775-786
Author(s):  
Anne-Sophie Zaunseder ◽  
Michelle Heblik

AbstractThis Article discusses the constitutionality of the recently implemented § 89a IIa of the German Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch—StGB) on the basis of the case 3 StR 326/16 decided by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) on April 6, 2017. First, this Article introduces § 89a IIa of the StGB with a short summary of the events leading to the present anti-terrorist legislation in Germany and the development of the legislation over the past few decades. Second, the facts of the BGH’s case will be outlined, and an overview of the systematic structure of § 89a I, II No. 1, IIa StGB will be provided. Within this framework, the constitutionality of § 89a IIa StGB will be discussed, focusing on the prerequisite of appropriateness, with special attention paid to the requirement of reasonability and the prerequisite of legal certainty pursuant to Article 103(II) Basic Law (Grundgesetz—GG). Finally, § 89a I, II No. 1, IIa StGB will be applied to the BGH’s case after discussing the contentious legal issues regarding these doctrines. This Article concludes by discussing the BGH’s decision, which deems § 89a IIa StGB to be constitutional.


2007 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 443-453
Author(s):  
Timo Kost

Within less than two months, three court decisions were rendered that seem to be the last step in the seemingly never-ending story of Mounir El Motassadeq before German criminal courts. First, on 16 November 2006, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof- hereinafter BGH) found Motassadeq guilty for being a member of a terrorist organisation and for abetting the murder of 246 people, according to sections 129 and 211 (27) of the German Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch- hereinafter StGB). The court sent the case back to the Higher Regional Court of Hamburg (hereinafter OLG Hamburg), which sentenced Motassadeq to 15 years imprisonment on 8 January 2007. Following the decision of 16 November 2006, Motassadeq lodged a constitutional complaint to the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht- hereinafter BVerfG), which declined to hear Motassadeq's case on the grounds that the complaint was both inadmissible and unsubstantiated.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-302
Author(s):  
Khulan Davaanyam ◽  
Franziska Wolff ◽  
Ranya Khalaf

AbstractThe Regional Court of Berlin (Landgericht (LG) Berlin) was the first court in Germany to mete out a life sentence for murder—pursuant to § 211 German Criminal Code (StGB)—to two men convicted of killing an uninvolved driver whose car they hit while they were participating in an illegal car race on a public highway. Upon their convictions, the defendants appealed to the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof; BGH) claiming that they did not intend to kill the person and were thus acting without the necessary mens rea for murder. The question whether or not the case could be qualified as murder, and thus whether or not the existence of a killing with intent had been sufficiently proven by the LG Berlin, was the subject of several appeals and retrials. In its latest decision, the BGH confirmed the murder conviction of one of the defendants, while quashing the other defendant’s conviction and issuing a retrial. This case caused ripples amongst legal scholars as it called for the toughest possible sanctions to be imposed. However, whether the conduct qualifies as murder remains questionable. As a reaction to several similar cases of illegal car races in recent years, the German parliament subsequently passed a new law—§ 315d StGB—proscribing illegal vehicle races, thereby penalizing the participation, organization, or carrying out of an illegal vehicle race. Until that point there had been no provision criminalizing illegal racing.


2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 631-646
Author(s):  
Christopher Ohnesorge ◽  
Julia Wilkes ◽  
Marius Eichfelder ◽  
Jinnus Rastegar ◽  
Matthias Derra ◽  
...  

As a reaction to the increasing terrorist threat in Europe, the German Parliament (Bundestag) passed a law penalizing the preparation of terrorist acts endangering the state: § 89a German Criminal Code (StGB). The Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main (LG Frankfurt) was the first to apply this section to a case where a young man was accused of building a pipe bomb. Upon his conviction, the defendant appealed to the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH), claiming § 89a StGB to be unconstitutional. The BGH reviewed whether the statute was in conformity with the principles of the German Constitution (GG), including the principle of legal certainty and appropriateness. It held that these principles were fulfilled, if stricter requirements are applied regarding the mens rea in order to counterbalance the broad actus reus. It decided that the Regional Court had not fulfilled this particular requirement and quashed the conviction insofar. This case and § 89a StGB caused ripples amongst legal scholars, especially due to the unusual penalization of preparatory acts and the broad scope of the statute's application. This case also produced an unprecedented change within the judge's bench.


2010 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1292-1305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Safferling ◽  
Timo Ide

AbstractThe German Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice) has to frequently adjudicate cases related to terrorism. The “War on Terror” has reached the German judiciary shortly after its proclamation as a reaction to the 9/11-attacks. Ever since, German criminal law is grappling with the question of how to harmonize security interests on the one hand with individual rights and liberties on the other. The expansion of the criminal law is a real threat for the previously liberty-oriented criminal law. The court decision discussed in this case addresses a specific aspect of terrorism: the financing of terrorist activities. As there is no special law prohibiting such kind of behavior, the judges had to apply section 263 of the German Criminal Code, which deals with fraud, and combine this with sections 129 a and b of the German Criminal Code, which makes being merely a member of a criminal organization into a criminal offence. A highly sensitive field of law that is put under scrutiny by anti-terrorism measures is procedural law. As secret investigation measures through electronic surveillance become more prevalent and sophisticated, the admissibility of the evidence, which was gained mainly by intelligence, becomes more and more questionable. The court decision discussed in this paper proves the willingness of the Federal Judges in Germany to reduce individual liberty rights in order to enhance the effectiveness of criminal prosecution.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0003603X2199702
Author(s):  
Anne C. Witt

In a high-profile decision of February 6, 2019, the German Federal Cartel Office prohibited Facebook’s data collection policy as an abuse of dominance for infringing its users’ constitutional right to privacy. The case triggered a remarkable interinstitutional dispute between the key players in German competition law. Conflicting rulings by the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court and the German Federal Court of Justice further illustrate how deeply divided the antitrust community is on the role of competition law in regulating excessive data collection and other novel types of harm caused by dominant digital platforms. This contribution discusses the original prohibition decision, the ensuing court orders, and legislative reform proposals in the broader context of European Union and U.S. competition law.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Heinrichs

Since the abolishment of singular admission to the higher regional courts in 2000, the judiciary has been asking itself the question whether singular admission to the Federal Court of Justice is compatible with the German Constitution and the laws of the European Union. In particular, the non-transparent selection procedure was and is the trigger of controversial discussions and the subject of legal disputes. The work questions the conformity of singular admission to the Federal Court of Justice with the German Constitution and considers the selection procedure to be without transparency, comprehensibility and rule of law.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas C. Fallak

Even after various decisions of the German Federal Court of Justice on the concept of illiquidity under insolvency law, the methodology of the test remains unclear. This also applies to the justiciability of business forecasts. The thesis examines whether and within what limits testing for illiquidity can be performed by digital analysis of accounting data. It also describes the extent to which short- and medium-term liquidity planning can be supported by quantitative forecasts. Statistical methods as well as approaches from the field of artificial intelligence are described.


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