Strafgesetzbuch

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Strafgesetzbuch is the German, Swiss, Liechtenstein and Austrian criminal law. It is often abbreviated to StGB. This article focuses on the German code.

[edit] History

The German Strafgesetzbuch goes back to the Strafgesetzbuch of the German Empire passed in the year 1871 which was mostly identical to the StGB of the North German Confederation.

This Reichsstrafgesetzbuch (Imperial Criminal Law) was changed very many times in the following decades as the legislature had to react not only to changing moral concepts and constitutional provision granted by the Grundgesetz, but also to scientific and technical reforms. Examples of such new crimes are money laundering or computer sabotage.

The StGB serves as a codification of criminal law, i.e. although there are various provisions affecting criminal law, such as definitions of crimes and law enforcement, in other acts, the StGB is the central legal text and constitutes the foundation of Germany's criminal law.

As a direct result of the Third Reich the Strafgesetzbuch contains sections that prohibit

Friedensverrat ("treason to peace"): Preparation of a war of aggression (§ 80) and incitement to a war of aggression (§ 80a)
dissemination of means of propaganda of unconstitutional organizations (§86)
use of symbols of unconstitutional organizations (§86a)
incitement to racial hatred (Volksverhetzung) (§130)

Since 2002, it is possible for German prosecutors to prosecute crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide internationally under the Völkerstrafgesetzbuch ("people's criminal code" or "international criminal code").