NCJ Number
130456
Editor(s)
G O W Mueller
Date Published
1966
Length
266 pages
Annotation
After an introduction that outlines the history, organization, and contents of the Federal Republic of Germany's Draft Penal Code, this book presents the draft code.
Abstract
The draft code, completed in 1962, contains the basic divisions of the "General Part," which presents provisions pertinent to all offenses, and the "Special Part," which specifies offenses and their punishments. The General Part has divisions that pertain to the temporal and territorial applicability of penal statutes; the nature of a criminal act; the consequences of criminal acts (punishments); charges, authorization, and penal petition; and statute of limitations. Offenses and punishments defined in the Special Part are presented in divisions that address crimes against the person, against the moral order, against property, against public order, against the State and its institutions, and against humanity. The introduction advises that the central concept of the Draft Penal Code is "guilt." The code is based in a normative concept of guilt that refers to social-ethical blameworthiness. Actors incur guilt if they can be blamed for their conduct. The degree of blame is the measure of guilt. The German theory of the crime concept first distinguishes the act corresponding to the statutory description of a particular offense. Even mentally ill or intoxicated persons can commit acts that are fact-pattern-conforming. There is the further requirement that an act which is fact-pattern-conforming be also unlawful, i.e., it must involve an objective violation of the legal provision. It does not do that if the actor acts from reasons that involve an excuse, e.g., self-defense. An act which is unlawful and fact-pattern-conforming becomes a crime only if "guilt" is added. It is lacking if the person acting cannot be blamed for violation of the nor and if, therefore, conduct in accordance with the norm cannot be demanded of the person.