Prawo wykroczeń Niemieckiej Republiki Demokratycznej

Abstract

In 1949 the German Democratic Republic was established as a state. Petty offences’ law in this country was gradually changed and it differed from old German model, in which petty offences were regulated in criminal code. Petty offences were treated as acts of minimal social danger and in 1968 they were finally excluded from penal law and formed an independent group of offences against social order. These offences were treated as a violation of social discipline and they hit state’s administration and its planning functions. The jurisdiction in these matters was supposed to have only educational character, because penalties of arrest and of restricted liberty were eliminated. A big quantity of corrective measures was applied. The jurisdiction in these matters was transferred to the administrative organs, which activity was somehow connected with the committed petty offence. The procedure was of administrative character, there was no elements of principle of adversary trial system. In fact, these proceedings were of inquisitorial character. The courts of common law could not control these proceedings, you could only appeal to a higher instance of the administrative organ. After 1968, the new group of petty offences was created. It derived from former criminal code and consisted of several misdemeanors, which were nor longer treated as crimes (depenalization). From this time there were two groups of petty offences. Both of them characterized by minimal social danger and by punishment based on corrective measures. There were some differences, because the new group of offences was under jurisdiction of People’s Police (Volkspolizei) and of special civic courts. You could appeal to court in these cases, which belonged to second group. It reminded a little of the old German model of petty offences’ jurisdiction. Petty offences’ law in GDR was different from this kind of law in other socialist countries, because it was concentrated on corrective measures, not on the repression.