Rules and regulations in Germany

We thought about the crimes, which are sentenced the harshest in our country and with a bit internet research we found them.

The harshest sentence in Germany ist the life sentence, which means not less than 15 years of arrest.
You would get it, if you did one of the below things:

- homicide and genocide ( in general there is no genocide in Germany but the law orders this, because of the catastrophe against the judaism )
- war crime
- high treason of the country
- sexual abuse with death results
- setting things on fire with death results

It's interesting to know why the people do their crimes. A study of the LWL (Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe) shows, what the main reasons are.

To 4% alcohol is the reason. In drunken state people forget all good things and become aggressive. Sure, it isn't always for example a sexual abuse, but also injury or damage to property which gets the consequences of a sentencing.
Brain-damage and other diagnosis, each of it is to five percent. Brain-damage means for example dementia! After a short time the delinquents don't know anymore, what they have done.
In addition the intelligence is very important, because, as the study shows, a low level of intelligence is to 11% a reason for a unsocial behavior. And if a person had had to live very terrible things, it will be kept in one's mind forever. That leads to personal disorders, which are to 31% in the diagnosis represented. But the most basic thing is psychosis! It's an illness, which makes you lose the touch with reality and act like an animal!

Fortunately, in Germany the goverment tries to do something against those crimes and to help the delinquents, who are often victims of their illnesses. For example there are a lot of training camps to reduce the aggressions and to learn a lot of things for living better and without social problems.



Now we'll tell you what we think about the figures of power and authority.
Because of the strict laws, there's much more injustice than justice.
For example:
Software pirates are getting a longer term of imprisonment than child rapists.

And maybe the sentences aren't hard enough, because almost 400.000 delinquents of 1.000.000 do it again.
In 2006, there were 50.000 convivcted persons aged between 14 and 21 years.
About 25 % of the crimes were comitted by foreign nationals.
An the numbers are getting higher.

This is a picture of the codes of law.
There's the civil law code, the commercial code, the federal building code, the social security code, the criminal code, the international criminal code and the invironmental code.
But that are just the main codes, there are a lot more codes of law.

Now some informations about the youth institutions

In the youth institution the prisoners should have a life without related offenses. The prison is from 14-24 years. The detention while awaiting trial is only to 21 years though.

The prisoner's daily routine is very exhausting. They learn a lot of things in groups of 7-8 people. Groups where they learn for example , living together , assuming responsibility , social skills or taking consideration. Also, they learn to accept their mistakes. The prisoners have got vocational training apportunities. Maybe they're in a social therapy department where they have social training or individual conversation. They receive helf an treatment for example anti-violence training, counselling on addiction. In addition they have free periods where they can go outside on the terrain, talk to other prisoners and can play football oder something else. Also, they have the possibility to work in the prison for example in the pison-kitchen or in the laudry.

In January I had a placement in the district court of Elmshorn where I learned about the differences between detention while awaiting trial and normal imprisonment :

Detention while awaiting trial: The letters and packets are excamined by a judge and the visiting time must be applicated. Every
prisoner can be visited 4 hours per month.

Normal imprisonment: The letters and packets can be sent and received and aren't checked. Every prisoner can also be visited 4
hours per month.

In Elmshorn, there are people who work with criminal teenagers. They don't ask for money, they're doing this just for helping them.

In their institutions, they want to give the teenagers. The ambition of them is to prepare the young people for a normal life after their imprisonment.

They campaign for therapy and help instead of imprisonment.

And we think  that this is the best for criminal young people.