Misuse of titles, job titles and badges

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The abuse of titles, job titles and badges is an offense in Germany according to § 132a StGB . Accordingly, it is particularly punishable to use unauthorized domestic or foreign official or service titles , academic degrees and certain professional titles .

Protected legal interest is the protection of the general public against the appearance of persons who, through the unauthorized use of designations, give themselves the appearance of special functions, skills and trustworthiness ( BGH 31, 62; 36, 277). The perpetrator gives guarantees in the quality, integrity and predictability of behavior or performance in certain social functions that he does not have. Under criminal law, it is an abstract endangering offense in the run-up to fraud, in particular, and it also contains elements of honor and state protection.

Are not protected mere function names as department manager , clerk , teacher or professional titles such as police officer . However, job titles may be protected in other laws.

Offense

It is liable to prosecution ( § 132a StGB ) anyone who, without authorization:

Official titles, titles, dignities, official dress and official badges of the churches and other religious communities under public law (see corporate status) are also included in the offense (Paragraph 3). The Federal Republic thus fulfills its obligation under Article 10 of the Reich Concordat : "The use of clerical clothing or religious vestments by laypeople or by clergy or religious, to whom this use has been legally prohibited by the competent church authority by a final order officially announced to the state authority, is subject to the same penalties on the part of the state as the misuse of the military uniform. "The offense goes beyond that, however, in that on the one hand titles and badges are protected, on the other hand not only the Catholic Church but also all other religious communities under public law benefit from the protection ( " Clerical title").

In addition to ambassadors with diplomatic status (in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations ), there are now also ambassadors of conscience, Unicef, waste separation, children's aid, etc. Their legal assessment is unclear.

Often a conflict arises in the use of academic degrees that have been awarded by a university outside the European Union , as the person bearing the title has to include an indication of origin. If this does not happen, there is a misuse of titles. The same applies to the use of the official title professor , grammar school professor or director and professor .

The use of names of corporations (GmbH and AG) is not covered by this criminal offense .

There are also restrictions if the title is only “used” in the private sphere (e.g. private impressions). Also not included are recognizable ironic designations.

Sentence

The range of punishment is imprisonment for up to one year or a fine .

Consequences of punishment

Items related to any of the above crimes can be confiscated.

Examples

See also

literature

Web links

  • Collection of judgments by Hermann-Josef Omsels, Hertin & Partner, Berlin

References / Notes

  1. ↑ For example, § 28 emergency medical law .
  2. ↑ BGHSt 31, 61-63.
  3. ^ LG Saarbrücken, NJW 1996, 2665–2666.