Service provided by the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection and the Federal Office of Justice ‒ www.gesetze-im-internet.de Übersetzung durch Prof. Dr. Michael Bohlander. Vollständige Überarbeitung und laufende Aktualisierung durch Ute Reusch Translation provided by Prof. Dr Michael Bohlander. Translation completely revised and regularly updated by Ute Reusch Stand: Die Übersetzung berücksichtigt die Änderung(en) des Gesetzes durch Artikel 2 des Gesetzes vom 19. Juni 2019 (BGBl. I, S. 844) Version information: The translation includes the amendment(s) to the Act by Article 2 of the Act of 19 June 2019 (Federal Law Gazette I, p. 844) Zur Nutzung dieser Übersetzung lesen Sie bitte den Hinweis auf www.gesetze-im-internet.de unter "Translations". For conditions governing use of this translation, please see the information provided at www.gesetze-im-internet.de under "Translations". German Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch – StGB) Criminal Code in the version published on 13 November 1998 (Federal Law Gazette I, p. 3322), as last amended by Article 2 of the Act of 19 June 2019 (Federal Law Gazette I, p. 844) General Part Chapter 1 The criminal law Title 1 Scope of application Section 1 No punishment without law An act can only incur a penalty if criminal liability was established by law before the act was committed. Section 2 Temporal application (1) The penalty and any incidental legal consequences are determined by the law which is in force at the time of the act. (2) If the threatened penalty is amended during the commission of the act, the law which is in force at the time the act is completed is to be applied. (3) If the law in force at the time of the completion of the act is amended before judgment, the most lenient law is to be applied. (4) A law which was intended to be in force only for a determinate time is, as a rule, still to be applied to acts committed whilst it was in force even after it ceases to be in force. This does not apply to the extent that a law provides otherwise. (5) Subsections (1) to (4) apply accordingly to the confiscation and rendering unusable of objects. (6) Unless otherwise provided by law, decisions as to measures of reform and prevention are to be taken according to the law which is in force at the time of decision. Section 3 Application to offences committed on German territory German criminal law applies to offences committed on German territory. Page 1 of 166 Service provided by the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection and the Federal Office of Justice ‒ www.gesetze-im-internet.de Section 4 Application to offences committed on German ships and aircraft Regardless of which law is applicable at the place where the offence was committed, German criminal law applies to offences committed on a ship or an aircraft which is entitled to fly the federal flag or to carry the national insignia of the Federal Republic of Germany. Section 5 Offences committed abroad with specific domestic connection Regardless of which law is applicable at the place where the offence was committed, German criminal law applies to the following offences committed abroad: 1. (repealed) 2. high treason (sections 81 to 83); 3. endangering the democratic state under the rule of law a) in the cases under section 89, section 90a (1) and section 90b if the offender is a German national whose livelihood is based within the territorial scope of this statute and b) in the cases under section 90 and section 90a (2); 4. treason and endangering external security (sections 94 to 100a); 5. offences against national defence a) in the cases under section 109 and sections 109e to 109g and b) in the cases under sections 109a, 109d and 109h if the offender is a German national whose livelihood is based within the territorial scope of this statute; 6. offences against personal liberty a) in the cases under sections 234a and 241a if the offence is directed against a person who is a German national and that person’s domicile or habitual residence is in Germany at the time of the offence, b) in the cases under section 235 (2) no. 2 if the offence is directed against a person whose domicile or habitual residence is in Germany at the time of the offence and c) in the cases under section 237 if the offender is a German national at the time of the offence or if the offence is directed against a person whose domicile or habitual residence is in Germany at the time of the offence; 7. violation of the business or trade secrets of a business which is physically located within the territorial scope of this statute or of an enterprise which has its seat therein, or of an enterprise which has its seat abroad and which is dependent on an enterprise which has its seat within the territorial scope of this statute and which forms a corporate group with the latter; 8. offences against sexual self-determination in the cases under section 174 (1), (2) and (4), sections 176 to 178 and section 182 if the offender is a German national at the time of the offence; 9. offences against life a) in the cases under section 218 (2) sentence 2 no. 1 and (4) sentence 1 if the offender is a German national at the time of the offence and Page 2 of 166 Service provided by the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection and the Federal Office of Justice ‒ www.gesetze-im-internet.de b) in the other cases under section 218 if the offender is a German national at the time of the offence whose livelihood is based in Germany; 9a. offences against physical integrity a) in the cases under section 226 (1) no. 1, in conjunction with (2), in the case of loss of the ability to procreate if the offender is a German national at the time of the offence and b) in the cases under section 226a if the offender is a German national at the time of the offence or if the offence is directed against a person whose domicile or habitual residence is in Germany; 10. false testimony, perjury and false declarations in lieu of an oath (sections 153 to 156) in proceedings pending before a court or another German authority within the territorial scope of this statute which has the authority to administer oaths or declarations in lieu of an oath; 10a. sports betting fraud and manipulation of professional sports competitions (sections 265c and 265d) if the offence relates to a competition which takes place in Germany; 11. offences against the environment under sections 324, 326, 330 and 330a which are committed within Germany’s exclusive economic zone insofar as international conventions on the protection of the sea allow for their prosecution as criminal offences; 11a. offences under section 328 (2) nos. 3 and 4, (4) and (5), also in conjunction with section 330, if the offender is a German national at the time of the offence; 12. acts committed by a German public official or a person entrusted with special public service functions whilst on official business or in connection with official duties; 13. acts committed by a foreigner in the capacity as a public official or a person entrusted with special public service functions; 14. acts committed against public officials, persons entrusted with special public service functions or soldiers in the Federal Armed Forces in the discharge of their duties or in connection with their duties; 15. offences under sections 331 to 337 committed in public office if a) the offender is a German national at the time of the offence, b) the offender is a European official whose authority has its seat in Germany at the time of the offence, c) the offence is committed in relation to a public official, a person entrusted with special public service functions or a soldier in the Federal Armed Forces or d) the offence is committed in relation to a European official or arbitrator who is a German national at the time of the offence, or a person deemed equal under section 335a who is a German national at the time of the offence; 16. taking of bribes by and giving of bribes to elected officials (section 108e) if a) the offender is, at the time of the offence, a member of a German parliament or is a German national or b) the offence is committed against a member of a German parliament or a person who is a German national at the time of the offence; Page 3 of 166 Service provided by the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection and the Federal Office of Justice ‒ www.gesetze-im-internet.de 17. trafficking in human organs and tissue (section 18 of the Transplantation Act (Transplantationsgesetz)) if the offender is a German national at the time of the offence. Section 6 Offences committed abroad against internationally protected legal interests Regardless of which law is applicable at the place where they are committed, German criminal law further applies to the following offences committed abroad: 1. (repealed) 2. serious crimes involving nuclear energy, explosives and radiation under section 307 and section 308 (1) to (4), section 309 (2) and section 310; 3. attacks on air and maritime traffic (section 316c); 4. human trafficking (section 232); 5. unauthorised sale of narcotics; 6. dissemination of pornographic material under section 184a, section 184b (1) and (2) and section 184c (1) and (2), each also in conjunction with section 184d (1) sentence 1; 7.