Bribery and bribery in business dealings
Bribery and bribery in business dealings in Germany is a criminal offense threatened with up to 5 years imprisonment according to §§ 299 ff. StGB , in particularly serious cases with up to ten years.
This economic corruption must be distinguished from the so-called public official corruption, the criminality in §§ 331 et seq. Of the Criminal Code " receiving bribes , corruption , granting advantages , bribery " is regulated.
Normalization
Since the change on March 3, 2020, the facts have been as follows:
Section 299 Bribery and Bribery in Business Transactions
(1) Anyone who conducts business as an employee or agent of a company is punished with imprisonment of up to three years or a fine
- demands, allows promises to be made or accepts an advantage for himself or a third party in return that he unfairly prefers another in domestic or foreign competition when purchasing goods or services, or
- without the consent of the company, demands, accepts promises or accepts an advantage for himself or a third party in return that he will undertake or omit an action when purchasing goods or services and thereby violate his obligations towards the company.
(2) Anyone who in business dealings with an employee or agent of a company is also punished
- offers, promises or grants an advantage for him or a third party in return for the fact that he unfairly prefers him or another in domestic or foreign competition when purchasing goods or services, or
- offers, promises or grants an advantage for this or a third party in return for this without the consent of the company, that he will undertake or omit an action when purchasing goods or services and thereby violate his obligations towards the company.
The provision primarily protects the general interest in “fair”, i.e. fair, competitive conditions and protects against unfair influences on competition that are likely to favor inappropriate market decisions. In addition, the property interests of the principal are protected, as are the property interests of competitors.
The perpetrator can only be someone who is acting as an employee or agent of a company at the time of the crime.
Because of the range of sentences contained in Paragraph 1 of imprisonment of up to three years or a fine, it is an offense under Section 12 Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code. This also applies to the particularly serious cases mentioned in Section 300 of the Criminal Code, which are punished with imprisonment from three months to five years. A particularly severe case is usually when
- the act relates to a large-scale benefit, or
- the perpetrator acts commercially or as a member of a gang that has joined forces to continue committing such offenses.
It is an application offense, as can be seen from § 301 StGB:
(1) Bribery and bribery in business dealings in accordance with Section 299 will only be prosecuted upon request, unless the prosecuting authority considers ex officio intervention to be necessary due to the particular public interest in prosecution.
(2) In the cases of Section 299 (1) number 1 and (2) number 1, in addition to the injured party, those in Section 8 (3) numbers 2 and 4 of the Act against Unfair Competition also have the right to file the criminal complaint under paragraph 1 designated associations and chambers.
Emergence
Section 299 of the Criminal Code serves to implement European legal acts in particular, which must be taken into account when interpreting the provision. Mention should be made of the EU's joint action on bribery in the private sector of December 22, 1998 (OJ EG L 358 of December 31, 1998, p. 2), as a result of which Section 299 was extended to foreign competition.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Schönke / Schröder / Eisele: StGB, Commentary, 30th edition 2019 . Section 299 of the Criminal Code, Rn. 3, ISBN 978-3-406-70383-6 .
- ↑ Schönke / Schröder / Eisele: StGB, Commentary, 30th edition 2019 . Section 299 of the Criminal Code, Rn. 2, ISBN 978-3-406-70383-6 .