Department of Criminal Law

Interdisciplinary cooperation is becoming more and more important for the legal sciences; nevertheless, legal methodology and doctrine have remained largely resistant to the influence of the empirical sciences. This is due, first, to the defensive attitude most German legal scholars take towards the… more

Guilt is the focal point of (German) criminal law: it is a prerequisite of pun­ish­ment, is guaranteed by the constitu­tional principle of guilt, and is the epitome of the general systemic decision to adopt a culpability-based criminal law. In the theory of crime, the category of guilt (or… more

Mentally healthy adults unlawfully engaging in conduct that satisfies the def­i­ni­tional elements of a criminal of­fence are, with rare exceptions – e.g., in situa­tions of “excusing necessity” (§ 35 German Criminal Code) or duress (§ 2.09 Model Penal Code) – widely regarded as prototypical… more

Reason for and Scope of the Primacy of State Procedures in the Context of Section 34 German Criminal Code more

Joel Feinberg once noted, “Every bona fide philosopher of law tries his hand at least once at the ancient problem of punishing failed attempts“ (37 Arizona Law Review 117 [1995]). While this is certainly true of Anglo-Americans, contemporary German jurists have remained surprisingly silent on the… more

Although theoretical work on the concept of punishment still focuses almost exclusively on custodial sentences (i.e., imprisonment), statistics show that the principal penalty employed by European criminal justice systems – at least in quantitative terms – is the fine. In Germany, for example… more

Although the statutory sentencing ranges prescribed by the German Federal Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch) apply equally nationwide, there is consid­er­a­ble interregional variation in sentencing. In addition, judges display consid­er­a­ble differences in punitiveness, depending on their specific… more

In the decade since 2010, the section on sexual offenses in the German Criminal Code has undergone multiple changes. These developments are traced for the most comprehensive commentary to the German Criminal Code, the “Leipziger Kommentar StGB”. The Commentary collects and analyzes policy… more

Due to the reconceptualization of rape and other sexual offenses as violations of the victim’s sexual autonomy and in view of the obligations arising from international and regional human rights law, more and more European legal systems are revising their understanding of sexual offenses to reflect… more

Should a person be criminally liable for sexual acts that involve circumstances of mistaken consent? This disser­ta­tion discusses whether negligent sexual assault should be criminalized under S. 177 StGB (a position advocated by Hörnle and Jerouschek twenty years ago), and if so, how this could be… more

The phenomenon of domestic and gender-based violence against women is widespread and affects all social classes and all countries. In 2014, for example, 33% of women in the EU between the ages of 18 and 74 had been victims of physical or sexual assault at some point in their lives. In addition to… more

Almost one in three Italian women between the ages of 16 and 70 (6,788,000) have been victims of physical or sexual violence at some point in their lives. Approximately half of these violent experiences were caused by a (former) partner. The discussion surrounding the issue of violence against… more

During the past two decades, many transnational and domestic statutes that regulate the offence of rape have turned away from considering violence or threats as necessary modalities of the offence and have begun treating non-consent as its essential element. This transition can be seen in recent… more

Sociologists and cultural sociologists describe increasingly plural, multicultural, and fragmented societies. Migra­tion is one of the factors that contribute to these phenomena. The goal of the project is to describe and evaluate the influence of the aforementioned societal developments on… more

Study of So-Called Paralleljustiz in Criminal Law in North Rhine-Westphalia more

The quest for alternative approaches to criminal conduct is one of the most pressing justice issues in the vast majority of crim­i­nal legal systems. There is increasing recognition that the number of people incarcerated reflects a societal failure to respond effectively to the challenges faced by… more

Right-wing extremism is an acute threat to democratic civil society and must be taken seriously. The need for both preventive and repressive socio-political responses that comply with the rule of law is urgent. Criminal law, too, has an important role to play in this context. Using the trial of the… more

The past five years have posed new challenges for Europe and the entire world: A rapid spread of digital violence and online “hate speech”, including image-based harassment, fake news, disinformation, propaganda, racism and xenophobia have become a steadily growing social problem fueled by migration… more

In addition to politically motivated violence and hostile states, legal orders in Europe today are increasingly con­fronted with profit-driven organised crime that is integrated into globally-operating criminal networks and at the same time entrenched in European societies. In view of the… more

Confronted with transnational terrorism and other forms of organised crime that elude the territorial borders of nation states, law enforcement authorities in many countries are increasingly turning to the private sector to tackle illicit financial flows. While banks and other financial institutions… more

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