Relapse (criminal law)
In criminology, in contrast to legal probation, relapse is understood to mean re- offending after serving a sentence . It is measured using the relapse rate . In the broader sense used by the crime statistics , a relapse is the perpetration of a criminal act by someone who has already been convicted of such an act.
In the narrower and proper sense, however, there is only a relapse in the case of so-called “relevant” previous convictions, i.e. only if exactly the same or at least one criminal offense directed against the same legal interest is fulfilled in the new offense .
According to earlier German law, this was a reason for aggravating the punishment . The penal code for the German Reich provided for this in the event of theft , robbery , stolen goods and fraud and usually required two previous convictions. In 1970, Section 48 a. F. in the general part of the Criminal Code created the possibility for all offenses to increase the minimum sentence to six months ' imprisonment . In 1986 the norm was abolished again. The special part contains a fallback regulation in Section 176a (1) StGB.
However, repeated relapse, a short imprisonment for defending the legal warrant and under the conditions of § 66 of the Criminal Code to order the preventive detention lead. The use of preventive detention and the treatment of recidivists have come under increasing discussion in recent years, particularly with regard to sexual criminal law.
In many states of the United States , the rule " three strikes and you are out " is common, according to which a third conviction is linked to life imprisonment.
Situation in Germany
For the reference year 2010, according to figures from the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection, a total of 35 percent of the legally convicted people in Germany committed offenses again within three years. Most frequently, young people released from prison were conspicuous at least once more (64 percent of those already convicted). Of those sentenced to imprisonment without parole in terms of general criminal law (adults), 45 percent relapsed. In this context, 30 percent of young people and 21 percent of adults had to serve another prison sentence.
Web links
- Legal probation after criminal penalties. A nationwide relapse investigation Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection , 2014
- Legal probation after criminal sanctions Project for the legal probation of all persons registered in Germany for legal reasons depending on the offense, sanction and socio-demographic characteristics such as age and gender at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law 2007-2016
- Wolfgang Heinz: The new recidivism statistics - legal probation of young offenders, magazine for juvenile criminal law and youth welfare (ZJJ) 2004, p. 35
- Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (Federal Motor Transport Authority) : Legal probation of drivers with suspicious traffic after a new driving license has been granted Research project 89.0236 / 2009 / AP on behalf of the Federal Highway Research Institute
- Thomas Ohlemacher, Dennis Sögding, Theresia Höynck, Nicole Ethé and Götz Welte: No better, but also no worse anti-aggressiveness training and legal probation, 2001
- Website of the Criminological Research Institute Lower Saxony eV
Individual evidence
- ↑ Prof. Dr. Dr. hc Jörg-Martin Jehle, Dr. Sabine Hohmann-Fricke: Legal probation after criminal sanctions. A nationwide relapse investigation from 2010 to 2013 and 2004 to 2013. 2016, p. 37 , accessed on November 5, 2019 .
- ↑ Prof. Dr. Dr. hc Jörg-Martin Jehle, Dr. Sabine Hohmann-Fricke: Legal probation after criminal sanctions. A nationwide relapse investigation from 2010 to 2013 and 2004 to 2013. 2016, p. 43 , accessed on November 5, 2019 .
