NCJ Number
126695
Date Published
1988
Length
15 pages
Annotation
The article analyzes recent problems and trends of criminal policy and its implementation in West Germany.
Abstract
Criminal policy is defined as policy which attempts to assure the security of the population while criminal code administration refers to the practical application of penal law. Today, laws have become the most important means of assuring the functioning of West Germany's complex society. Social change has created new challenges for law makers, especially in the areas of traffic safety, economic crime, and environmental offenses. Though penal law is increasingly seen as only one aspect of social control, implementing these new norms and rules has strained the capacity of criminal code administration so that many minor offenses go unpunished. In the future, policy makers will need to deal with numerous problems and tensions. For example, the trend of juvenile diversion and the rise of juvenile delinquency, the lenient treatment of traffic offenses and the rise in violations, and the right to privacy as opposed to the police's technological ability to keep suspects under surveillance. However, even if all policy issues were resolved, the solutions in themselves would include the seeds for new change, thus necessitating perpetual reform. In the administration of the criminal code, the article predicts greater emphasis on serious offenses at the expense of minor offenses and increasing concern for the interests of victims. A bibliography is included.