Criminal law contains legal norms which prohibit certain behaviour and connect them with legal consequences, namely penalties. Its purpose is to protect people´s freedom and it regulates where the freedom of one person ends and the freedom of another person begins. On the other hand, with the possibility of a prison sentence, it also threatens the committer´s freedom. You can also become a committer without any intention, for example in a traffic accident with bodily injury.
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Criminal proceedings clarify whether a person has committed a certain legally chargeable crime and which penalty is imposed. If the police or public prosecution gain knowledge of a possible crime, this must be investigated and, if necessary, criminal proceedings against this person must be initiated. This happens by notification (by private people), or by own perception of police or public prosecution.
Every private person is entitled but not obliged to report an offence to the public prosecution or the police. This applies to all actions relevant for criminal law such as bodily injury, dangerous threat, damage to property, theft, falsification of a document and fraud. The proceedings are divided in the preliminary proceedings – where together with the police, the public prosecution tries to collect as many details about the crime as possible – and the main proceedings.
Lawyers, doctors, notaries, officials etc. who violate professional duties or the profession´s reputation, must explain themselves in front of the disciplinary council of their chamber, resp. the disciplinary powers of their authority. The penalties range from a warning to the revocation of the right of professional practise. Also in the disciplinary proceedings, different legal remedies are possible.
Appointing a lawyer is not mandatory, but it is purposeful to have an attorney at your side already in the first interrogation by the police. Sometimes the first questions are essential for the further proceedings. Whoever is not absolutely certain here, can exercise his/her right to remain silent and consult an experienced criminal attorney in time. A lawyer ensures your right to a fair lawsuit and will advise you regarding your possibilities of defence.
With the diversion, the public prosecution or the court has the possibility to waive the carrying out of formal criminal proceedings in certain offenses, if the matter has been clarified sufficiently and the suspect or defendant takes on responsibility for the offense. In the course of the diversion, the suspect resp. the defendant is offered the possibility to undergo burdensome measures (e.g. community service), to pay a fine or the like. In this case there is neither a conviction nor a formal sentence. There is no entry in the criminal record either. However, the diversion is stored court-internally for ten years.
Bodily injury is the infringement of a person´s bodily integrity in the form of an injury or a health impairment. This for example includes:
Bodily injury which was caused by negligence, without severe culpability of the offender and not persisting longer than 14 days or affecting near relatives of the perpetrator are not liable to prosecution.
On the other hand, those offenders, who for example caused a traffic accident under extremely dangerous circumstances (e.g. under alcohol influence), are punished more severely.