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Anyone who gets on a bus without a ticket may no longer commit a crime in the future
Photo: Arne Dedert / dpa
Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) recently spoke in SPIEGEL in favor of modernizing criminal law.
Among other things, fare dodging could be decriminalized.
From the point of view of the German Lawyers' Association (DAV), this is a sensible step.
The association supports the plans of the federal government to review the classification of the fare dodging as a criminal offense, said Swen Walentowski, head of political communication and media of the DAV, the news agency AFP.
The association has been advocating downgrading to an administrative offense for years, said Walentowski.
Prosecution and punishment as a criminal offense caused disproportionately high costs, "unnecessarily burden the judiciary and investigative authorities and are contrary to the ultima ratio principle of criminal law."
The costs for the procedure and prison sentences are disproportionately high in relation to the fraudulent benefits, said Walentowski.
In addition, the authorities have no discretion.
Those who cannot afford the ticket and still drive are criminalized - and those who cannot pay a fine have to go to jail.
The behavior of these people is "not socially harmful and therefore criminalization is not in the interests of community protection."
The ultimate ratio idea of criminal law stipulates that criminal prosecution should only be resorted to as a last resort, argued Walentowski.
Justice Minister Buschmann apparently shares this view.
Buschmann told SPIEGEL that criminal law in particular was "not an all-purpose weapon, but rather, as the sharpest sword of the rule of law, only the last resort."
Quite a number of people are in custody in Germany because they fail to pay fines imposed by the courts, for example for repeatedly driving illegally.
Placing people in prisons also costs the state a lot of money.
fek / AFP
