# Prosecutors in Germany

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prosecutors-in-germany/726797>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 2, 2015, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prosecutors-in-germany/726797 "2015-08-02T13:25:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prosecutors-in-germany/726797/1 "2015-08-02T13:25:43Z")

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I just read an article in [DW.com](http://DW.com), a news english new site, that mentions something about German legal practices I was not aware of. The article is about a new law covering possible corruption in medical practice-a worthy topic that isn’t the point of this OP.  
[Germany clamps down on medical corruption – DW – 07/29/2015](http://www.dw.com/en/germany-clamps-down-on-corruption-in-health-sector/a-18616765)

My question is who calls in a German prosecutor? Apparently they can’t investigate possible wrongdoing on their own-some other organization, presumably usually but not always the police, refer cases to the prosecutor. While that is certainly the normal practice in the US, I am pretty certain that a prosecutor in the US is able to investigate any allegations of wrongdoing without relying on someone else to refer the case to them.  
Can some of the legal experts here explain how criminal cases start in Germany and even better how that differs, if it does, from practices in the US?  
Thanks

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**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prosecutors-in-germany/726797/2 "2015-08-02T14:04:34Z")

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I’ll quote directly from [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antragsdelikt):

> [@](#):
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> In the criminal law of some countries, an Antragsdelikt (plural Antragsdelikte) is a category of offence which cannot be prosecuted without a complaint by the victim.

> [@](#):
>
> The term comes from the German language words Antrag (petition) and Delikt (offence). Antragsdelikte are similar to, but not identical to Ermächtigungsdelikte. For example, in Austria the latter category includes such offences as trespass or fraud committed in an emergency situation. The victim’s consent is required for investigation of an Antragsdelikt to begin; no such consent is required in the case of an Ermächtigunsdelikt, though the prosecutor will inform the victim. In both cases, actual prosecution of the offence will only proceed with the consent of the victim.[3] Another term is Privatanklagedelikte.[1]

> [@](#):
>
> Germany  
> The German Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch) lists the following as offences which will only be prosecuted on request:
> 
> Breach of the peace (§ 123)  
> Violation of instructions during supervision of conduct (§ 145a)  
> Defamation (§ 185, in conjunction with § 194)  
> Violation of privacy and personal secrets (203 and 204, in conjunction with § 205)  
> Domestic theft (§ 247)  
> Taking Without Owner’s Consent (§ 248b)  
> Energy theft (§ 248c)  
> Unlawfully offering an advantage (§ 257)  
> Thwarting of distraint (§ 288)  
> Unlawful retaking of goods pawned (§ 289)  
> Poaching of fish (§ 293, in conjunction with § 294)  
> Acts committed under intoxication where the intoxication causes diminished responsibility (§ 323a)  
> Breach of fiscal secrecy (§ 355)

> [@](#):
>
> In addition, the German Criminal Code states that the following offences will be prosecuted on the request of the victim or in the case of “special public interest”:
> 
> Statutory rape, if the victim is between 14 and 16 years old and the offender older than 21 (§ 182 para. 3)  
> Exhibitionism (§ 183)  
> Violation of privacy and personal secrets (§§ 202 a and 202 b, in conjunction with § 205)  
> Battery (§ 223, in conjunction with § 230)  
> Negligent battery (§ 229, in conjunction with § 230)  
> Child abduction (§ 235)  
> Stalking (§ 238 para. 1)  
> Theft and embezzlement of low-value items (§ 248a)  
> Corruption and bribery in business transactions (§ 299, in conjunction with § 301)  
> Property damage (§ 303, in conjunction with § 303c)  
> Unlawful alteration of data (§ 303a, in conjunction with § 303c)  
> Computer sabotage (§ 303b, in conjunction with § 303c)

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**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prosecutors-in-germany/726797/3 "2015-08-02T14:15:51Z")

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And I should add that in all other cases (i. e. the majority of crimes), the prosecutor’s office and/or the police will always start investigating a crime and indict if warranted.

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**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prosecutors-in-germany/726797/4 "2015-08-02T16:18:32Z")

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> [@Donnerwetter](#):
>
> And I should add that in all other cases (i. e. the majority of crimes), the prosecutor’s office and/or the police will always start investigating a crime and indict if warranted.

Thanks!

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**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prosecutors-in-germany/726797/5 "2015-08-02T17:35:22Z")

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Most offences are _Offizialdelikte_ i.e. German prosecutors can open an investigation on receiving information from anyone - from the police, by an allegedly injured party, by third parties, even sometimes on reading a newspaper article on an event the prosecutors infer may constitute a criminal offence.

The _Antragsdelikte_ (noted in **Donnerwetter** ’s post) as a rule are prosecuted only if the injured party wants it to be prosecuted - that’s mainly meant to prevent busybodies forcing a conflict into the sphere of criminal law when the (uncoerced) injured party prefers some other resolution (or the alleged injured party does not in fact consider itself injured). But prosecutors can take up the case anyway by declaring a case of ‘overriding public interest’.

I have read the draft of the _Gesetz zur Bekämpfung von Korruption im Gesundheitswesen_ - it amends the Criminal Code by adding offences for medical corruption. These are _Antragsdelikte_ - application for criminal prosecution can be made by the main stakeholders in medical regulation, e.g. professional bodies and the statutory and private medical insurance bodies (the latter are likely to be the injured party in cases of medical corruption). But as usual with _Antragsdelikte_ prosecutors can prosecute by declaring an overriding public interest. The law also amends the Social Code inter alia by charging the statutory medical insurance bodies with investigating suspicions of corruption in medicine.

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**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\
**Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prosecutors-in-germany/726797/6 "2015-08-03T14:18:18Z")

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> [@Mops](#):
>
> Most offences are _Offizialdelikte_ i.e. German prosecutors can open an investigation on receiving information from anyone - from the police, by an allegedly injured party, by third parties, even sometimes on reading a newspaper article on an event the prosecutors infer may constitute a criminal offence.
> 
> The _Antragsdelikte_ (noted in **Donnerwetter** ’s post) as a rule are prosecuted only if the injured party wants it to be prosecuted - that’s mainly meant to prevent busybodies forcing a conflict into the sphere of criminal law when the (uncoerced) injured party prefers some other resolution (or the alleged injured party does not in fact consider itself injured). But prosecutors can take up the case anyway by declaring a case of ‘overriding public interest’.
> 
> I have read the draft of the _Gesetz zur Bekämpfung von Korruption im Gesundheitswesen_ - it amends the Criminal Code by adding offences for medical corruption. These are _Antragsdelikte_ - application for criminal prosecution can be made by the main stakeholders in medical regulation, e.g. professional bodies and the statutory and private medical insurance bodies (the latter are likely to be the injured party in cases of medical corruption). But as usual with _Antragsdelikte_ prosecutors can prosecute by declaring an overriding public interest. The law also amends the Social Code inter alia by charging the statutory medical insurance bodies with investigating suspicions of corruption in medicine.

Thanks.  
Those details appear to satisfy the concerns expressed in the article that medical corruption investigations relies on the individuals doing the corrupting. After all, presumably neither side in a bribery case is interested in publicity. But from what you described, that issue is effectively solved assuming the prosecutors are diligent.