Deutscher Strafrechtslehrer

Deutscher Strafrechtslehrer Statement by the undersigned German Professors of Criminal law on the "Green Paper of the Commission of the European Communities on the protection under criminal law of the financial interests of the European Communities and the creation of a European Public Prosecutor's Office" 1. The undersigned German professors of criminal law welcome the Commission's endeavours to prevent damage to the European Community's financial assets more effectively than previously. However, we would also draw attention to the fact that this is not in any way a new problem, and that subsidy fraud in a European context, for example, was dealt with as much as 30 years ago in the Tiedemann Study of subsidy crime, and has since been the subject of constant discussion. Thus, there is no need for an over-hasty, radical redefinition of the manner in which competence is shared between national and European regulations and institutions. 2. It therefore seems somewhat premature to provide detailed answers to the questions raised by the Green Paper - within the timeframe desired by the Commission these could only have been possible in a superficial and unscientific manner, without any discussion - which would give the impression that the Europeanization of criminal justice control mechanisms described in the Green Paper is the only way, with any promise of success, to eliminate the deficiencies in the European Community's protection of its financial assets. Regardless of the fact that the work of OLAF and EUROJUST must first be awaited and evaluated, and that the different drafts on substantive criminal law must be subjected to detailed critical examination and discussion, efforts towards control outside criminal law should also be intensified, including the removal of elements of the European system of subsidies which encourage criminal behaviour. 3. The innovative idea of a European Public Prosecutor's Office which is only partly centralised, and is linked up with national authorities, deserves a sustained scientific analysis, which the earlier and highly commendable preliminary work of the "Corpus Juris Working Group" (a less pretentious name would better serve its purpose) does not replace, but augments. The undersigned professors of criminal law will make their contribution to this thorough scientific analysis, fully recognising the need to invest the very considerable staff resources of German criminal jurisprudence increasingly in the provision of responses to questions which arise at a European level. Even now it is possible to point to the fact that the personal and actual independence of the European public Prosecutor, as envisaged by the Green Paper, raises specific questions in a democratically constituted community. 4. In its existing form at any rate, the Green Paper's "Concept of Evidence" (Section 6.3.4) has not been thought through sufficiently, and its obvious and possibly intended consequences would result in the unacceptable erosion of those guarantees for establishing the truth in court proceedings which in the German tradition are indefeasible in a criminal trial: to wit if the "principle of reciprocity" permitted evidence based on statements by witnesses to be substituted by documentary evidence, thus the abandonment of the principle of immediacy and the undermining of the right of the defence to produce evidence. Signatories to the Statement by German Professors of Criminal Law on the "Green Paper" 31 May 2002 Prof. Hans Achenbach, University of Osnabrück Prof. Stephan Barton, University of Bielefeld Prof. Günter Blau, University of Frankfurt am Main Prof. Lorenz Böllinger, University of Bremen Prof. Björn Burkhardt, University of Mannheim Prof. Gerhard Dannecker, University of Bayreuth Prof. Dieter Dölling, University of Heidelberg Prof. Gunnar Duttge, University of Munich Prof. Volker Erb, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg Prof. Johannes Feest, University of Bremen Prof. Gerhard Fezer, University of Hamburg Prof. Helmut Frister, University of Düsseldorf Prof. Klaus Geppert, Free University of Berlin Prof. Heinz Gössel, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg Prof. Walter Gropp, University of Gießen Prof. Rainer Hammer, University of Frankfurt am Main Prof. Roland Hefendehl, University of Dresden Prof. Michael Heghmanns, University of Frankfurt (Oder) Dr. Bernd Heinrich, University of Tübingen Dr. Manfred Heinrich, University of Munich Prof. Wolfgang Heinz, University of Konstanz Prof. Uwe Hellmann, University of Potsdam Prof. Eric Hilgendorf, University of Würzburg Prof. Emeritus Thomas Hillenkamp, University of Heidelberg Prof. Hans-Joachim Hirsch, University of Cologne Prof. Jörg-Martin Jehle, University of Göttingen Prof. Günter Jerouschek, University of Jena Prof. Jan C. Joerden, University of Frankfurt (Oder) Prof. Walter Kargl, University of Frankfurt am Main Prof. Urs Kindhäuser, University of Bonn Prof. Michael Köhler, University of Hamburg Prof. Heinz Koriath, University of Saarland Dr. Ralf Krack, University of Göttingen Prof. Arthur Kreuzer, University of Gießen Prof. Hans-Heiner Kühne, University of Trier Prof. Fritz Loos, University of Göttingen Prof. Klaus Lüderssen, University of Frankfurt am Main Prof. Manfred Maiwald, University of Göttingen Prof. Lutz Meyer-Goßner, University of Marburg Prof. Egon Müller, University of Saarland Prof. Heinz Müller-Dietz, University of Saarland Prof. Cornelius Nestler, University of Cologne Prof. Harro Otto, University of Bayreuth Prof. Walter Perron, University of Mainz Prof. Cornelius Prittwitz, M.P.A, University of Frankfurt am Main Prof. Andreas Ransiek, University of Osnabrück Prof. Jürgen Regge, University of Greifswald Prof. Rudolf Rengier, University of Konstanz Prof. Joachim Renzikowski, University of Halle-Wittenberg Prof. Klaus Rogall, Free University of Berlin Prof. Claus Roxin, University of Munich Prof. Franz Salditt, University of Cologne Prof. Helmut Satzger, Bucerius Law School, Hamburg Prof. Hero Schall, University of Osnabrück Prof. Uwe Scheffler, University of Frankfurt (Oder) Prof. Wolfgang Schild, University of Bielefeld Prof. Reinhold Schlothauer, University of Bremen Prof. Roland Schmitz, University of Bayreuth Prof. Heinz Schöch, University of Munich Prof. Hans-Ludwig Schreiber, University of Göttingen Prof. Friedrich-Christian Schroeder, University of Regensburg Prof. Ulrich Schroth, University of Munich Prof. Heribert Schumann, M.C.L, University of Leipzig Prof. Karl F. Schumann, University of Bremen Prof. Bernd Schünemann, University of Munich Prof. Klaus Sessar, University of Hamburg Prof. Günter Spendel, University of Würzburg Prof. Jörg Tenckhoff, University of Augsburg Prof. Peter Thoss, University of Bremen Dr. Friedrich Toepel, University of Bonn Dr. Torsten Verrel, University of Munich Prof. Klaus Volk, University of Munich Prof. Michael Walter, University of Cologne Dr. Jürgen Weidemann, University of Bochum Prof. Gerhard Werle, Humboldt University, Berlin Prof. Edda Weßlau, University of Bremen Prof. Gunter Widmaier, University of Munich Prof. Jürgen Wolter, University of Mannheim Prof. Rainer Zaczyk, University of Trier Prof. Frank Zieschang, University of Würzburg.

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