Breach of the confidentiality of letters

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Violation of the confidentiality of letters is a criminal offense in German criminal law . It is an application offense that is regulated in § 202 StGB .

Legal interest

The legal interest protected by the regulation is the protection against indiscretion , in particular the secrecy of letters ( Art. 10 GG ).

Subject matter

document

The subject of the crime are documents . A document is any explanation of thought embodied in writing, e.g. B. letters or diaries . According to Paragraph 3, images and photos can also be the subject of crime.

Locked

The document must either be locked (Paragraph 1) or specially secured against being read by a locked container (Paragraph 2). What both alternatives have in common is that third parties must at least be significantly hindered. Therefore, the content of unsecured postcards is not recorded.

A document is sealed if it is immediately enclosed by a seal. This is the case, for example, with a sealed envelope or a sealed diary.

A document is particularly secured against being read by a closed container if it is in a safe or in a locked drawer. A locked room, on the other hand, is not a container .

Perpetrator

Anyone can be the perpetrator who was not intended to take notice. It is therefore a negative special offense . Who can take note of a document is usually decided by the person who sealed the document, for example the sender of a letter.

Offense

The offense can be opening the document (Paragraph 1 No. 1), obtaining knowledge by technical means (Paragraph 1 No. 2) and opening a container to obtain information (Paragraph 2).

However, the act is only punishable if it is carried out without authorization . An authorization can be e.g. B. resulting from the organization of the recipient (post office of a company), from the custody of the parents, from legal regulations (e.g. in prison) or from the consent of the authorized recipient. A legal guardian is only authorized if the court has permitted the post to be stopped and opened in accordance with Section 1896 (4) of the German Civil Code.

Paragraph 1 No. 1

To implement the inspection alternative in Paragraph 1 No. 1, it is sufficient to simply open the document. It is not necessary for the perpetrator to take note of the content. Even tearing open someone else's letter is a criminal offense.

Paragraph 1 No. 2

The alternative in Paragraph 1 No. 2, on the other hand, presupposes that the perpetrator takes note of at least part of the document. To do this, he has to use a technical means, for example an apparatus for fluoroscopy. Holding a letter against the light is not enough, however.

Paragraph 2

Paragraph 2 covers the case that someone opens a sealed container as described above in order to gain knowledge of the content of a script. If, on the other hand, he opens the container without knowing that there is a document in it, the offense is not fulfilled.

Punishment, attempt, competitions

The act is punished with imprisonment for up to one year or with a fine . The attempt is not punishable.

Used in conjunction with the violation of the confidentiality of correspondence a theft or embezzlement committed one can coincidence exist. In contrast, damage to property is suppressed . If there is also a breach of postal or telecommunications secrecy , you do not make yourself liable to prosecution according to § 202 StGB.

literature

  • Herbert Tröndle, Thomas Fischer: Criminal Code and ancillary laws . C. H. Beck. Munich, 2006. ISBN 3-406-53900-9 .
  • Adolf Schönke, Horst Schröder: Criminal Code. Comment . C. H. Beck. Munich, 2006. ISBN 3-406-51729-3 .