NCJ Number
82402
Date Published
1981
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Contemporary criminal law in Western European countries has benefited from mutual influences; recent law reforms all confirm the general tendency toward less repressive criminal sanctions. More efficient criminal processing is needed in Germany.
Abstract
While the most recent West German law reforms clearly reflect the influence of Marc Ancel's social defense theory, they also evidence independence from the French model, since in Germany the law remains based on the principle of guilt. Conversely, a new Spanish law reform proposal reflects German reforms in its general tone as well as in specific provisions, such as the elimination of life prison sentences and long-term payment of fines. The substitution of fines for short-term imprisonment appears to be a worldwide trend, evidenced in the laws of Belgium, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Italy, Holland, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, and Japan. In the Federal Republic of Germany in 1978, 82 percent of all offenders were fined while only 17 percent received prison sentences. Furthermore, a study performed by the Max Planck Institute indicates that widespread use of fines has not increased recidivism. Reforms in criminal justice processing procedures depend on the authority given police discretion at the initial stages of processing. The law empowers police to bring charges in England, Norway, and in the United States. German alternatives are to legitimize the current police influence upon arraignment through similar legislation or to return to the procedures specified in existing law (i.e., the prosecutorial office brings criminal charges). A German study of the possibilities for making criminal justice procedures more efficient and speedy recommends a redistribution of the functions of the police, the prosecution, and the courts, with pretrial diversion possibilities in less serious cases at both police and prosecutorial levels. A total of 65 footnotes are given.