Depiction of violence

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The violence in Germany in accordance with § 131 of the Criminal Code (CC), a misdemeanor , which with imprisonment is punishable up to one year or a fine. According to Section 131 of the Criminal Code, the depiction must express the glorification of violence or the neglect of violence or depict the cruel or inhuman nature of the process in a manner that violates human dignity .

text

§ 131 StGB (representation of violence) reads:

(1) Anyone who is punished with imprisonment for up to one year or with a fine

1. a document ( Section 11, Paragraph 3 of the Criminal Code) that describes cruel or otherwise inhuman acts of violence against humans or human-like beings in a way that glorifies or belittles such acts of violence or that expresses the cruel or inhuman nature of the process in a person that violates human dignity Way represents
a) disseminates or makes available to the public,
b) offers, transfers or makes accessible to a person under the age of eighteen or
2. a content referred to in number 1 by means of radio or telemedia
a) a person under the age of eighteen or
b) makes it available to the public or
3. Manufactures, procures, delivers, holds in stock, offers, advertises or undertakes to import or export this font in order to use it or pieces obtained from it in the sense of the content specified in number 1 ( Section 11 Paragraph 3 StGB) 1 letter a or b or number 2 or to enable another person to use it.

In the cases of sentence 1 numbers 1 and 2, the attempt is punishable.

(2) Paragraph 1 does not apply if the act serves to report on current events or history.

(3) Paragraph 1 sentence 1 number 1 letter b, number 2 letter a shall not apply if the person entitled to care for the person acts; this does not apply if the custodial person grossly violates his or her duty to raise children by offering, letting or making them accessible.

Constituent elements

Protected legal interest is, in the prevailing opinion, the

  • public peace

This legal interest itself already includes a bundle of legal interests, so it is inherent in overlapping with other legal interests. In particular, the following may be considered as superimposed legal interests:

  • Protection of minors
  • Protection of abstract human dignity
  • The physical integrity of the individual

The protection of minors as a protected asset is problematic in that the prohibition norm was not standardized in the Youth Protection Act and the punishment is also directed against adults.

Depictions of violence are harmful to young people, for example if

  • Violence is glorified (detailed scenes of murder , torture and brutal violence ( e.g. snuff films , happy slapping attacks ) presented for an end in themselves )
  • Violence is presented as a possible solution to conflict
  • Vigilante justice in the form of violence is presented as the appropriate and best means of enforcing law

Exclusions from the facts

  • Reporting privilege (Paragraph 3): Actions that serve to report on current events or history are excluded from the offense.
  • Privilege of custodians (Paragraph 4): If the person entitled to care for the person acts, Paragraph 1 No. 3 does not apply.
  • Art freedom : depictions of violence can be recognized as works of art. They enjoy the protection according to Art. 5 Abs. 3 GG.

"Zombie Judgment" 1992 and 2003 amendment

Zombies are "human-like beings".

Originally, Section 131 of the Criminal Code only referred to depictions of violence against people . In the case of the horror film Tanz der Teufel , which had been confiscated because of its drastic depictions of violence, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled in 1992 that the film should be released again. In their decision, the constitutional judges stated that the term "human" in the StGB is unmistakably linked to the "biological concept of human" and that the prohibition of analogy under criminal law does not allow it to be interpreted as meaning that it is also " human-like creatures sprung from the imagination " comprises, or about the zombies assimilable possessed in the negotiated film. As a result of the “zombie ruling”, courts could hardly take action against violent videos if the victims of the fictional violence were not recognizable as human beings.

This changed when the German Bundestag decided on December 27, 2003, with effect from April 1, 2004, to add a further element to Section 131 of the Criminal Code : since then, the representation of violence against people has been legally equated with that of "human-like beings". Since the amendment of the paragraph it is no longer decisive whether the victims are declared in fiction as “ androids ”, “artificial people”, “ extraterrestrials ”, “ undead ” or the like, but whether they are based on objective standards of their external shape according to their resemblance to show the people. Since then, people who are drawn or represented in the form of special electronic effects have also come under Section 131 of the Criminal Code.

Legislative initiative to ban "killer games"

Following a corresponding announcement in December 2006, the Bavarian government presented a Federal Council initiative in early 2007 to ban computer games with violent content, which it referred to as " killer games ", according to which a new section 131a of the Criminal Code (virtual killer games) should be inserted. In the draft it says: A prison sentence of up to one year or a fine is punished, who play programs that depict cruel or otherwise inhuman violence against humans or human-like beings and enable the player to participate in depicted violent activities of this kind,

  1. spread,
  2. makes publicly available,
  3. offers, leaves or makes accessible to a person under the age of eighteen or
  4. manufactures, procures, delivers, holds in stock, offers, announces, advertises, imports or undertakes to use them in the sense of numbers 1 to 3 or to enable another such use.

The submission of this draft law, which had not yet been completed, was declared completed in 2014 in a simplified procedure; there was no corresponding change in the law.

Regulations from the JuSchG and JMStV to § 131 StGB (extracts)

Ego shooter

Not only those media that are covered by Section 131 StGB are prohibited. Pictures, films or texts with violent content that are dangerous for children and young people are also subject to the legal restrictions of the Youth Protection Act and the State Treaty on Youth Media Protection (JMStV).

Youth Protection Act (JuSchG)

§ 15 JuSchG (youth-endangering carrier media)reads:

  • (1) Carrier media whose inclusion in the list of media harmful to minors has been announced in accordance with Section 24 Paragraph 3 Clause 1 may not
  1. are offered, made available to a child or a young person or otherwise made accessible,
  2. –7. ...
  • (2) The restrictions of Paragraph 1 are subject to carrier media that are seriously harmful to minors, without the need for inclusion in the list and publication
  1. have one of the contents specified in Section 86 , Section 130 , Section 130a , Section 131 or Section 184 of the Criminal Code,
  2. glorify the war
  3. People who are dying or who are or were exposed to severe physical or mental suffering are portrayed in a manner that violates human dignity and reflect actual events without an overriding legitimate interest in this form of reporting.
  4. Depicting children or young people in an unnatural, gender-emphasizing posture or
  5. are obviously likely to seriously jeopardize the development of children or young people or their upbringing to become independent and socially competent people.

Section 18 JuSchG (list of media harmful to minors)reads:

  • (1) Carrier and telemedia that are capable of endangering the development of children or young people or their upbringing to become self-reliant and socially competent persons must be included in a list of media endangering minors by the Federal Testing Office for media harmful to minors. Above all, this includes media that are immoral, harassing and inciting violence, crime or racial hatred.
  • (2) The list is to be kept in four parts.
  1. Part A (Public List of Carrier Media) must include all carrier media, unless they can be assigned to Parts B, C or D;
  2. in part B (public list of carrier media with an absolute ban on distribution), if they cannot be assigned to part D, carrier media are to be included which, according to the assessment of the Federal Examination Office for Media Harmful to Young People, have one of the categories listed in § 86, § 130, § 130a, § 131 or § 184 para 3 or 4 of the Criminal Code have specified content;
  3. in Part C (non-public list of media) those carrier media are to be included that are only not to be included in Part A because they are not to be published in the list pursuant to Section 24 (3) sentence 2, as well as all telemedia, as far as they cannot be assigned to part D;
  4. Part D (non-public list of media with an absolute ban on distribution) includes those carrier media that are only not to be included in Part B because they are not to be published in the list in accordance with Section 24 (3) sentence 2, as well as those Record telemedia which, according to the assessment of the Federal Inspectorate for Media Harmful to Young People, has a content specified in Section 86, Section 130, Section 130a, Section 131 or Section 184 Paragraph 3 or 4 of the Criminal Code.
  • (2) - (4) ...
  • (5) Media are to be included in the list if a court has determined in a final decision that the medium has one of the contents specified in Section 86, Section 130, 130a, Section 131 or Section 184 of the Criminal Code.

List of media harmful to minors according to § 18 JuSchG

In the Federal Republic of Germany , the Federal Inspectorate for Media Harmful to Young People (BPjM) keeps a list in which, on the one hand, the media classified as harmful to young people ( indexes ) and, on the other hand, media that have been confiscated or confiscated after a court order. This list is published regularly in the official bulletin BPjM-aktuell .

The list is divided into different parts of the list, which in turn are divided into different indices:

List parts index
A, B, E according to § 18 Abs. 2 Nr. 1 and 2 JuSchG

List A : Media are harmful to young people
List B : Media to which the more extensive distribution bans under the StGB apply (according to the BPjM)
List E : Entries before April 1, 2003

1 Movies (2,946 titles)
2 Games (448 tracks)
3 Print media (797 titles)
4th Phonograms (552 tracks)
C, D according to § 18 Abs. 2 Nr. 3 und 4 JuSchG (will not be published)

List C : All indexed telemedia that are harmful to minors and certain distribution bans under Section 4 of the State Treaty on Youth Media Protection (JMStV) are subject to
List D : All indexed telemedia that may have content relevant to criminal law and for which further distribution bans under the StGB apply.

5 Telemedia (online offers) (1,157 titles)
6th Carrier media (leaflet) (1 title)
Special overviews Confiscation / confiscation insofar as they have been communicated to the BPjM
7th Confiscations nationwide according to §§ 86a, 130, 130a StGB (112 titles)
8th Confiscations nationwide according to § 131 StGB (278 titles)
9 Confiscations nationwide according to § 184 III StGB, since April 1, 2004 §§ 184a and 184b StGB (183 titles)
10 Confiscations nationwide according to §§ 185, 187 StGB (3 titles)
Special overviews Advance indexes / current indexes (carrier media)
11 Advance indexes carrier media
12 Current indexing of carrier media (in the month of publication of the BPjM-Aktuell indexed carrier media)

The figures are as of June 30, 2006.

Youth Media Protection State Treaty (JMStV)

§ 4 JMStV (Inadmissible Offers) reads:

(1) Without prejudice to criminal liability, offers are not permitted if they

  • 1st - 4th ...
  • 5. Describe cruel and otherwise inhuman acts of violence against people in a way that glorifies or belittles such acts of violence or that depicts the cruel or inhuman nature of the process in a manner that violates human dignity; this also applies to virtual representations,
  • 6-7 ...
  • 8. Violate human dignity, in particular by depicting people who are dying or who are or have been exposed to severe physical or mental suffering, whereby an actual event is reproduced without a legitimate interest in this form of representation or reporting; a consent is irrelevant,
  • 9-11

In the cases of numbers 1 to 4 and 6, Section 86 (3) of the Criminal Code applies, in the case of number 5, Section 131 (3) of the Criminal Code applies accordingly.

Recorded offenses in police crime statistics

  Number of offenses ( § 131 StGB )
in Germany (PKS 2003-2014)
2003 282
2004 238
2005 329
2006 705
2007 891
2008 661
2009 408
2010 265
2011 185
2012 170
2013 205
2014 240

In 2014, a total of 240 crimes were recorded in the German police crime statistics (PKS) . The number of cases over the last few years can be found in the table below.

Statistics (police crime statistics, convict statistics, etc.) cannot determine the exact extent of the offenses. Due to different recording periods / dates and other influencing factors, these statistics are not comparable in Germany.

See also

literature

  • Michael Kunczik, Astrid Zipfel: Violence and Media. A study manual , 5th, completely revised. Edition, UTB Böhlau, Cologne [u. a.] 2006, ISBN 3-8252-2725-1 .

swell

  1. ↑ BVerfGE 87, 209 (decision of the First Senate of October 20, 1992)
  2. ↑ § 131 StGB, representation of violence
  3. ^ Reinhart Maurach , Friedrich-Christian Schroeder , Manfred Maiwald : Criminal law: special part. Offenses against community values. Hüthig Jehle Rehm, 2005, ISBN 3-811-43344-X , p. 452.
  4. ^ German Bundestag, 15th electoral period: Printed matter 15/1311 (PDF; 470 kB) from July 1, 2003
  5. ↑ Printed matter by the Federal Council
  6. ↑ http://dipbt.bundestag.de/extrakt/ba/WP16/67/6772.html
  7. ↑ BKA: Police crime statistics 2012 ( memento from June 9, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) accessed on June 13, 2015
  8. ↑ BKA: Police crime statistics 2014 ( memento of July 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) accessed on June 13, 2015

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