Simplified criminal procedure

Under simplified or abridged criminal is understood in criminal law many instruments that the regular procedure with oral trials to replace. They are generally the judicial process acceleration (including measures for more efficient adjudication through to fast-track procedure , or expiration of the stages of appeal are).

Basics

Ordinary court proceedings with oral main hearings are one of the central achievements of modern criminal proceedings. The disadvantage is the high expenditure, both in terms of time and money. Therefore, numerous different instruments are used or tested, which are intended to relieve the courts and judges without impairing personal rights , in particular the fundamental right to a fair trial , and also taking into account the legitimate interest of the possible victim that the criminal case becomes public: The right to a judicial decision in civil and criminal matters is also a fundamental right for both perpetrators and victims.

Because there is no verbality, i.e. the direct confrontation between those involved in the process, one speaks of a pure “filing procedure”. One example is the written penalty order (mandate procedure) introduced in Prussia as early as 1846 - after the establishment of a proper litigation system in the modern sense .

Another application is the insightful accused, i.e. confessed and repentant , who accept guilt and punishment without being contradicted. Then the process costs for the convicted person can also be kept low.

In addition, there is a wealth of simple procedures for minor violations, such as the traffic ticket in traffic and similar cases. These are mostly based on apparently unambiguous evidence ( in-flagranti cases) and fixed, non-personalizable penalties and fines (catalog penalties), i.e. the absence of a matter that "needs to be negotiated".

The difference to an out-of-court settlement is that there is a legally effective punishment.

National

Austria

The following forms exist in Austria:

Abbreviated procedures in administrative criminal law ("penalty mandates", "speeding tickets": written order without preliminary investigation):
- Penal for small administrative violations to 600 € fined by authorities (§§ 47-49 WTL 1991)
- Anonymous rulings for administrative violations that are noticed by police officers or other supervisory bodies or that are detected by means of image processing technical devices (Section 49a VStG 1991); The main area of application is the StVO
- Organ penalty order for administrative offenses that are perceived by the police or other supervisory bodies (Section 50 VStG 1991)
in the Code of Criminal Procedure:
- Single judge at the regional court , for offenses and criminal offenses with a penalty of up to 5 years imprisonment (with exceptions) and the like. Ä. (§ 31 Z. 4 StPO 1975) - this is otherwise a lay judge or jury in the main hearing stage.
- Mandate procedure , written penal order by the judge: up to 1 year conditional imprisonment (§ 491 StPO 1995)
- Diversion measures , replacement of the penalty with cash payment, charitable services, probationary period, compensation for offenses (§§ 200–204 StPO 1995)
- Absence proceedings at the district court (§ 427 StPO 1995)
in financial proceedings:
- Simplified procedure in financial criminal proceedings, penal order by the tax office as the financial criminal authority (§§ 143-146 FinStrG )
in penal law :
- Abbreviated procedure for administrative offenses for administrative penalties, a reprimand or a fine of up to 70 € (§§ 108 and 116a StVG )

Switzerland

In Switzerland there are:

Special procedures in criminal procedure law (8th title StPO)
- Criminal order procedure by the public prosecutor's office up to 6 months imprisonment and the like (Art. 352–356 StPO)

Individual evidence

↑ Werner Schubert: Sources for Reform of the Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure Law , Volume 2, Verlag Walter de Gruyter, 1988, ISBN 978-311013484-1 , Application No. 64 by Crohne to 364372 StVO draft penalty order: history , p. 581 ff ( restricted Preview in Google Book Search);
Eduard Carl Spengler: The penalty order in Swiss, German and Austrian law. Publisher University of Zurich, 1929.
↑ ^a ^b Special types of procedure in criminal proceedings. minilex.at
↑ How does a financial criminal procedure at the tax office work? - Course of the administrative procedure: simplified procedure. bmf.gv.at
↑ Tim Haack: The systematic of simplified criminal proceedings. Volume 31 of the series of studies on criminal law , dissertation, 1st edition, Dike Verlag (in cooperation with Nomos Verlag, Baden-Baden), Zurich / St. Gallen 2009, ISBN 978-3-03751-171-8 .
↑ cf. on this, for example, «Public prosecutors have enormous power» . interview with Franz Riklin, Tagesanzeiger.ch/Newsnet, December 31, 2010.

[1] Werner Schubert: Sources for Reform of the Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure Law , Volume 2, Verlag Walter de Gruyter, 1988, ISBN 978-311013484-1 , Application No. 64 by Crohne to 364372 StVO draft penalty order: history , p. 581 ff ( restricted Preview in Google Book Search);
Eduard Carl Spengler: The penalty order in Swiss, German and Austrian law. Publisher University of Zurich, 1929.

[minilex-2] Special types of procedure in criminal proceedings. minilex.at

[3] How does a financial criminal procedure at the tax office work? - Course of the administrative procedure: simplified procedure. bmf.gv.at

[4] Tim Haack: The systematic of simplified criminal proceedings. Volume 31 of the series of studies on criminal law , dissertation, 1st edition, Dike Verlag (in cooperation with Nomos Verlag, Baden-Baden), Zurich / St. Gallen 2009, ISBN 978-3-03751-171-8 .

[5] . on this, for example, «Public prosecutors have enormous power» . interview with Franz Riklin, Tagesanzeiger.ch/Newsnet, December 31, 2010.