NCJ Number
126691
Date Published
1988
Length
18 pages
Annotation
The article surveys reforms of the German penal code of 1871 over 115 years and charts the trends of recent reforms.
Abstract
Although the need for reforms of the code emerged already in 1882, it took until the Weimar Republic to bring about some changes in such areas as juvenile law, and the replacement of short prison terms by fines. The NAZI era was characterized by the harshness of its reforms including the emasculation of sexual offenders and indiscriminate use of capital punishment. After World War II, initial reforms focused on eliminating the excesses of the NAZI era. Since then, West German legislators have not been able to agree on a comprehensive reform; still a policy of gradual and partial reforms has been adopted successfully. The large number of individual changes seems to follow three distinct trends. First, legislators emphasize more humane, less destructive forms of punishment. In this context, the reduction of short prison terms and the increased use of suspended sentences (with or without probation) are especially significant. Second, legislators recognize that penal law is not the only means of social control. Thus, numerous offenses against sexual morality such as adultery, sodomy, and seduction have been entire eliminated. Other offenses (especially traffic violations) have been reclassified as summary offenses. Third, social change has created the need for additional laws, especially in the areas of terrorism, environmental offenses, and white collar crime. Recent progress in medicine and biotechnology has created new challenges for this ever evolving penal code.