Pre-Trial Detention in Germany: The Empirical Situation (From Coercive Measures in a Socio-legal Comparison of the People's Republic of China and Germany, P 117-136, 2004, Hans-Jorg Albrecht and Chen Guangzhong, eds. -- See NCJ-210122)

• NCJ Number: 210126
• Author(s): Hans-Jorg Albrecht
• Date Published: 2004
• Length: 20 pages
• Sale Source: Max-Planck-Institute Fur Auslandisches und Internationales Strafrecht
• Publication Format: Book Chapter
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: Germany (Unified)

Annotation

This paper examines the goals and objectives of pretrial detention, as well as system reforms in Germany.

Abstract

The practice of pretrial detention in Germany is characterized through short periods of detention, the dominance of risk of absconding as remand ground, and the fact that the majority of pretrial detainees receive a non-custodial sanction. The legal framework of pretrial detention displays a mix of preventive and procedural considerations. However, over the last few decades, there has been a move towards prevention as a major goal of pretrial detention due to dramatic changes in the composition of offenders and the structure of crimes. During the last few decades there have been reforms of the statutory basis of pretrial detention which oscillate between strict understanding as a device to secure the criminal trial on the one hand and exploitation of its potential of prevention and repression. The extent to which extra-legal and legal grounds influence the decision to remand a suspect to a detention facility prior to trial are examined and discussed, as well as how to reduce the use of pretrial detention. Efficient approaches to reduce incidence and duration of pretrial detention are necessary for reducing the economic burden associated with detention, reducing the impact on proportionality and presumption of innocence, and reducing the impact pretrial detention has on detainees in terms of social alienation, loss of employment, and more.