Criminal
The StGB, the legality principle and public prosecutors
Criminal law rests on the Strafgesetzbuch and the legality principle, which obliges prosecutors to pursue every sufficiently suspected offence. There is no jury; lay judges (Schöffen) sit alongside professionals.
Key rules
- The legality principle constrains prosecutorial discretion, subject to defined exceptions.
- Lay judges (Schöffen) join professional judges rather than sitting as a separate jury.
- Pre-trial detention requires a specific ground such as flight or collusion risk.
Governing law
- Strafgesetzbuch (StGB)
- Strafprozessordnung (StPO)
Penalties and consequences
- Fines by daily units (Tagessätze) and imprisonment
In practice
Fines are set as daily units scaled to income, so the same offence costs a high earner far more than a low earner.