Crimes and Penal Offences in German Criminal Law and Draft Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania
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Abstract
a. According to German law, crimes are illegal actions the punishment for which is imprisonment for at least one or more years. Offences are illegal actions the punishment for which is the shor test imprisonment or a fine. The difference is abstract. It does not depend on the infliction of punishment in every particular case.
The dichotomy of crimes and offences expresses a specific gradation upwards. Rules allow to treat crimes as offences. A corpus delicti is an exception to criminal statistics.
The difference between a crime and an offence is valid not only in Criminal Code but also in criminal law and criminal process.
b. The attachment of a corpus delicti to a crime or an offence in the framework of punitivity is important looking from many angles:
– an attempt to commit a crime is punitive only as defined in the law (§ 23 I dStGB).
– an attempt to take up criminal activities is punitive only according to § 30 I dStGB.
– a threat (§ 241) is punitive only if it is related to a crime.
c. The effect of criminal prosecution according to (§ 153 ff. dStPO). Prosecution or a case may be dismissed only with the object of an offence present. The abatement of action according to obligations or orders is impossible in case there is a suspiction of a person having committed a crime (§ 153 a dStPO).
d. The classification of crimes/offences defines the steps of criminal process, especially the competence of court.
e. The classification of crimes/offences provides the German legislators with certain spheres. A legislator of criminal laws may claim it necessary to widen investigation means due to the changed public relations and the appearance of new criminal forms. In this case, the legislator may raise a question whether the means may be used only for grave crimes or for offences too.
In the Lithuanian draft, the gravest punishment for a crime is imprisonment. For criminal negligence the punishment is 10 years of imprisonment and for intentional crime maximum 6 years of imprisonment.
Since the classification of crimes is determined by the extent of punishment, a certain minimal punishment may be less also without imprisonment compared to the German law.
Consequently, the classification of crimes is not that important as it is in the German law. The number of crimes in a general context of criminality in Lithuania is much higher than the Germany. The limitations of crime punitivity in the stages of the preparation for a crime, co-operation in certain forms and the harder punishment for a repeated crime do not result in the lessening of criminality as in the German criminal law.
The dichotomy of crimes and offences expresses a specific gradation upwards. Rules allow to treat crimes as offences. A corpus delicti is an exception to criminal statistics.
The difference between a crime and an offence is valid not only in Criminal Code but also in criminal law and criminal process.
b. The attachment of a corpus delicti to a crime or an offence in the framework of punitivity is important looking from many angles:
– an attempt to commit a crime is punitive only as defined in the law (§ 23 I dStGB).
– an attempt to take up criminal activities is punitive only according to § 30 I dStGB.
– a threat (§ 241) is punitive only if it is related to a crime.
c. The effect of criminal prosecution according to (§ 153 ff. dStPO). Prosecution or a case may be dismissed only with the object of an offence present. The abatement of action according to obligations or orders is impossible in case there is a suspiction of a person having committed a crime (§ 153 a dStPO).
d. The classification of crimes/offences defines the steps of criminal process, especially the competence of court.
e. The classification of crimes/offences provides the German legislators with certain spheres. A legislator of criminal laws may claim it necessary to widen investigation means due to the changed public relations and the appearance of new criminal forms. In this case, the legislator may raise a question whether the means may be used only for grave crimes or for offences too.
In the Lithuanian draft, the gravest punishment for a crime is imprisonment. For criminal negligence the punishment is 10 years of imprisonment and for intentional crime maximum 6 years of imprisonment.
Since the classification of crimes is determined by the extent of punishment, a certain minimal punishment may be less also without imprisonment compared to the German law.
Consequently, the classification of crimes is not that important as it is in the German law. The number of crimes in a general context of criminality in Lithuania is much higher than the Germany. The limitations of crime punitivity in the stages of the preparation for a crime, co-operation in certain forms and the harder punishment for a repeated crime do not result in the lessening of criminality as in the German criminal law.
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Please see Copyright and Licence Agreement for further details.
