German criminal law is mainly governed by the German Criminal Code (StGB).
The body of laws contains two large parts, the general and the special part.
The General Section deals with all fundamental questions of punishability and punishment. The rules laid down there apply to all German offenses.
1. General Part of the German Criminal Code (StGB)
In the general part of the StGB, for example, it is regulated under which conditions a perpetrator makes himself liable to prosecution if he has only attempted the intended offense.
Some offenses do not require intent, but establish a criminal offense even in the case of negligent conduct.
Even those who fail to perform an offense may, under certain circumstances, become liable to prosecution, not only for failure to render assistance.
Aiding or abetting a criminal offense can also be punishable.
In some cases, a criminal offense is objectively committed, but the act can be justified – for example, if a person has acted in self-defense to ward off an illegal attack against himself.
Some perpetrators are diagnosed for the time of the offense with inability or reduced ability for criminal responsibility.
Last but not least, the General Part of the Penal Code also regulates the sentencing, the assessment of imprisonment and fines, or the granting of probation, it contains provisions on the secondary consequences as well as the statute of limitations of criminal offenses.
2. Special Part of the German Penal Code
The special part of the Penal Code consists of a conglomerate of criminal offenses for the protection of life, physical integrity or sexual self-determination, but also for the protection of road safety or the environment.
Capital offenses such as murder and manslaughter in § 211 and 212 StGB are known to many people only from the Sunday TV crime thriller. Other criminal offenses such as insult (§ 185 StGB) or bodily harm (§ 223 StGB) are closer to daily life.
The seventh of the Ten Commandments “You shall not steal” can be found today in the provision of § 242 StGB (Theft).
Further offenses like fraud (§ 263 StGB), forgery (§ 267 StGB) or bankruptcy (§ 283 StGB) concern above all the business criminal law.
3. Punishability of Bizarre Criminal Offenses
In addition, the Criminal Code also contains some rather bizarre criminal offenses.
For example, the Defamation of the President of the Federation (§ 90 StGB) constitutes a criminal offense of its own. The President of the federation himself enjoys immunity – as do members of the German Bundestag – i.e. he may only be prosecuted with the special consent of Parliament (Art. 60 Abs. 4 in conjunction with 46 Abs. 2 of the German Constitution).
Anyone who supports a prisoner in escaping from prison or makes it possible for him or her to escape is threatened with up to three years’ imprisonment for facilitating escape of prisoners in accordance with § 120 of the Penal Code. For a prisoner himself, on the other hand, escaping or attempting self-liberation does not constitute a separate criminal offense – unless other offenses such as bodily injury, damage to property or hostage-taking are committed.
Other criminal offenses are reminiscent of Hollywood productions, such as criminal liability for acting as a secret agent with the aim of sabotage (§ 87 StGB) or working as an agent for an intelligence service (§ 99 StGB).