General misery

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The term general offenses is used in criminal law to distinguish it from special offenses . It is not stipulated by law, but serves to make the literature clearer.

A general misdemeanor can be committed by anyone . No special requirements are placed on the group of possible perpetrators.

A typical general offense is the theft of Section 242 of the Criminal Code " Whoever takes away a movable property from someone else [...] [...]" . Theft can therefore be committed by anyone, as the criminal law norm generally applies to everyone.

Special offenses , on the other hand, require the perpetrator to have a special qualification or legal status. For example, bodily harm in the office of Section 340 StGB " An official who commits physical injury while performing his service or in relation to his service [...]" can only be committed by an official who is on duty ( official offense ). A person who is not a public official cannot commit this offense. For all non-public officials, the general provision of Section 223 of the Criminal Code " Whoever physically abuses another person or damages their health [...]" is relevant.

A special form is the criminal offense of manslaughter ( § 212 StGB: " Who kills a person without being a murderer, [...]" ) which in principle can be committed by anyone, unless the act would be punished as murder . The first thing to check here is whether the act does not meet the criteria for murder. The formulation of § 211 StGB "Murderer is who [...]" goes back to the doctrine of the perpetrator type developed by the National Socialists , who deliberately wanted to express linguistically that there is a certain, predetermined group of people, the type of murderer be.

The norm addressees of a general offense are all citizens and the norm addressees of a special offense are only a part of these citizens.

While the term “special offense” is widespread in German legal literature, the term “general offense” is used primarily, but not exclusively, in Austria and Switzerland.

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