|
East Germany Penal Code
The Penal Code in use in 1987 became effective on December 1,
1968, after several years of preparation. It replaced the German
code of 1871 that had been extensively modified to make it
compatible with the Soviet code. According to authorities, the
nineteenth-century code had been based on personal relationships
relevant only to private ownership of the means of production,
and the compromises between it and a socialist code had never
been satisfactory. The 1968 code was amended in 1974, 1977, and
again in 1979. The 1979 amendment and other new legal provisions
were more stringent. Authorities were given broader power, public
order was generally strengthened, and police were given greater
latitude in securing evidence.
The code is divided into nine sections: crimes against the
sovereignty of the regime and against peace, humanity, and human
rights; crimes against the regime; offenses against the
individual; offenses against youth and the family; offenses
against socialist property; offenses against personal and private
property; offenses against the general security; offenses against
the regime and public order; and military offenses. Other than
for its accommodation of property rights in a socialist system,
the 1968 code is noteworthy in that five of its nine sections
deal primarily with offenses against the regime and the social
system.
Punishments usually consist of fines or imprisonment but also
frequently involve efforts at rehabilitation. Special
consideration--job training and social rehabilitation--is usually
given to juvenile offenders. Until July 1987, execution in time
of peace could be authorized for eleven crimes against the state
and for murder. Military courts, even in peacetime, had the right
to sentence both civilians and military personnel to death for a
variety of offenses. On July l6, 1987, however, East Germany
announced the abolition of the death penalty.
Data as of July 1987
|
