Frequently Asked Questions

Do not consent to anything and say nothing. Contact us immediately.

Contact us immediately. Depending on the distance, we will usually visit your relative on the same day and file legal remedies if there is a prospect of success.

Contact us immediately. If the summons is from the police, we will first cancel the appointment and request access to the file. Then we will discuss how to proceed. If the summons comes from the public prosecutor or a judge, you are generally required to appear. You should not do this without a lawyer.

You should refuse any cooperation. This primarily involves remaining silent towards everyone: police, public prosecutor's office, court, but also friends and family. Not a word! However, do not resist the officers. This means: Behave exclusively passively!

There are two exceptions to this:

1. You should become active insofar as to get a lawyer on your side. You ALWAYS have the right to this according to § 137 StPO: 'The accused may avail himself of the assistance of a defense counsel at any stage of the proceedings.'
2. You must provide personal details (see next question).

Yes. However, these are limited to:

1. First name, family name and birth name
2. Date and place of birth
3. Marital status
4. Profession
5. Residential address
6. Citizenship

1. During the preliminary proceedings, the defense lawyer checks how the main hearing can be effectively influenced at an early stage by a statement or submission. In particular, it is important to prevent a 'version of events' from solidifying in the minds of those involved.
2. In the preliminary proceedings, the defense lawyer ensures that all important evidence is investigated and, above all, secured by the public prosecutor's office or, if necessary, by themselves.
3. Some measures in the preliminary proceedings are already accompanied by considerable burdens. These include not only house searches, but also the interrogation of friends or colleagues, for example. Our goal is to reduce these burdens by ensuring that the measures are carried out differently or that countermeasures are taken. If, for example, your computer is confiscated during a house search, the defense lawyer will advocate for you to receive a digital copy of your data.

Unless otherwise agreed, the costs are based on the RVG (Lawyers' Remuneration Act). However, these fees generally do not allow for sufficient time to be spent on your mandate. Therefore, we usually agree on a lump sum remuneration based on the effort expected for the required criminal defense. Unlike hourly rates, the costs are transparent for you from the very beginning. We naturally take your financial situation into account regarding the method of payment.

In special exceptional cases, billing is also carried out according to the RVG. In these cases, assignment as a public defender (Pflichtverteidiger) is often possible – then the state initially assumes the costs. We will check this for you immediately.

The initial personal consultation at our firm or via video call is free of charge for you.

The law stipulates that in some cases 'so much is at stake' that it would be unacceptable for an accused person to be without a defense lawyer (so-called necessary defense). The cases are listed in § 140 StPO; in particular, this concerns accused persons in pre-trial detention or cases with an expected sentence of more than one year of imprisonment. If the accused has not yet appointed a lawyer of their choice in these cases, the state will take care of appointing a public defender. This does not depend on financial circumstances.

The accused may also choose a defense lawyer for this purpose. They should definitely make use of this right, because some public defenders may be accused of defending inadequately to avoid work or to stay on good terms with the court.

By the way: For the question of who ultimately bears the costs of the defense lawyer, the distinction between public defender and chosen counsel is irrelevant. Although the state initially bears the costs for the public defender, it will reclaim them in the event of a conviction. In the event of an acquittal, the acquitted person will also receive their costs (within the statutory framework) for the chosen counsel back. There is no legal aid (Prozesskostenhilfe) in criminal law.

For a good criminal defense lawyer, various qualities are important in addition to professional competence:

• Discretion
• Commitment
• Foresight
• Availability
• Assertiveness
• Individual mandate processing
• Partiality (on your side)
• Nationwide activity

Read in the following points how we live these values.

Absolute discretion forms the foundation of our legal work. We understand that our clients entrust us with their most sensitive matters, and we take this responsibility extremely seriously. Much information and data does not even end up in the investigation file and is therefore particularly worthy of protection. We consistently rely on software solutions with local data storage or end-to-end encryption and thus go far beyond standard measures. Your personal data will not be passed on to third-party providers such as Google or other cloud services without your consent.

We will ask you whether we may communicate with you via unencrypted email. For particularly sensitive communication, we can receive and process PGP-encrypted emails. For extremely sensitive mandates, we are happy to develop additional protective measures that go beyond our already high standards. Talk to us – together we will find a solution tailored to your case. Your trust deserves our best protection.

Excluded from this are generally payment information and, consequently, the information that a mandate relationship exists. These cannot be meaningfully kept away from all third parties, e.g., banks, in the context of communication and payment processing with usual measures.

The primary goal of criminal defense is to prevent a conviction or to keep the sentence low. In addition, however, a multitude of other tasks must be kept in mind. This includes, in particular, dealing with the press and considering other legal consequences. We will draw your attention to this and refer you to appropriately specialized colleagues in difficult cases.

We understand that criminal proceedings are associated with considerable uncertainties for our clients and that there is a regular need for information. Personal support and advice throughout the entire procedure therefore represent a central component of our legal work. We have committed ourselves to reacting to your inquiries generally within 24 hours and to enabling timely consultation appointments. This reliable availability ensures that you are optimally informed and looked after in all phases of the proceedings.

If you are looking for a lawyer who elevates conflict to an end in itself, we are not the right firm for you. We solve many problems effectively through strategic dialogue with the judiciary. However, where a conflict is in your interest, we will conduct it with all consistency.

Every case is different. Behind every allegation lies your individual life story. We do not forget this when processing the mandate. In most cases, you are also the most important source of information: Only you know what really happened, and only you know what interests we should pursue.

A lawyer is obliged to represent only your interests. A very wide framework is available to him for this purpose. Everything we do serves this goal.

Our legal activity may only concern German law. Otherwise, however, we do not shy away from any journey that is conducive to the goal of the mandate.

We couldn't say it better ourselves:

“The task of the criminal defense lawyer is to give trust where everyone refuses it, to unfold compassion where feelings have died, to sow doubt where no one has any left and to plant hope where it has long since flown away.”

Dr. h.c. Gerhard Strate, Welt am Sonntag, January 18, 2004

At the beginning are the investigations by the public prosecutor's office (preliminary proceedings). The prerequisite for this is an initial suspicion, whereby the hurdles for this – unlike for a later conviction – are very low. The public prosecutor's office is obliged to investigate (principle of legality). Investigations include, in particular, interrogations of witnesses and searches, but also a multitude of other measures.

At the end of the preliminary proceedings, the public prosecutor's office makes a final decision. Usually, this involves a discontinuation or the bringing of charges. If charges are brought, the interim proceedings and the main proceedings follow. These are no longer conducted by the public prosecutor's office, but by a court. As a rule, the main proceedings end with a judgment, which can be challenged with legal remedies or is otherwise enforced. The judgment regularly imposes a prison sentence (with or without probation) or a fine. However, numerous other decisions can also be made, such as the withdrawal of a driving license or the confiscation of assets.

Access to the file allows your lawyer to view numerous documents such as evidence, witness statements, and protocols of the investigating authorities. Only with this knowledge can an effective defense strategy be developed. This is the basis for all further steps.

“He who remains silent, lies!” This is a socially widespread view. It cannot be dismissed that some people may give weight to allegations because a counter-statement is omitted. Even worse and irrevocable, however, is making mistakes within the framework of one's counter-statement. And these happen, even if one is innocent.

Criminal proceedings are not comparable to social interaction. Different rules apply. Firstly, it is about the impression of people who deal professionally with crimes and the right to silence, which has grown historically for good reasons. Secondly, the state must prove the crime to you beyond reasonable doubt. A “bad feeling” is not enough. The less “material” is available, the more difficult this is in principle.

In which cases and in what way a statement makes sense, you discuss exclusively with your criminal defense lawyer!

You can imagine it like a “judgment by mail”.

A penalty order is issued without an oral main hearing. For this, the public prosecutor's office and the court must be of the same opinion at the end of the preliminary proceedings. This saves resources of the judiciary. This also entails advantages for the accused. Fewer costs are incurred, a potentially shameful situation in the public main hearing is spared, and the proceedings are over more quickly.

At the same time, however, there can also be considerable disadvantages. A penalty order counts as a completely normal judgment with all consequences, such as a possible entry in the certificate of conduct. It is not to be confused with a fine notice (Bußgeldbescheid). And yet the evidence and arguments were never discussed in court as extensively as would happen in a main hearing. Mistakes happen regularly, particularly in the assessment of the amount of daily rates.

After service of the penalty order, the accused has the option of lodging an objection (Einspruch) against the penalty order within a period of two weeks. If an admissible objection has been lodged, the court generally sets a date for a public main hearing, in which a decision is made on the objection. The further procedure then resembles that of a “normal” charge.

Whether you should lodge an objection or “accept” the penalty order, you decide with your lawyer after detailed access to the file!

This means that the preliminary proceedings are ended. Resumption of the preliminary proceedings is rare, but not excluded.

A discontinuation according to § 170 para. 2 StPO occurs if insufficient evidence for the proof of the act could be determined or the facts are not considered punishable. This discontinuation is popularly referred to as a “small acquittal”.

A discontinuation according to § 153 StPO can occur in cases where the accused act – even if it can be proven – has only an extremely low weight.

A discontinuation according to § 153a StPO can occur in cases where the accused act – even if it can be proven – has only a low to medium weight. This type of discontinuation is always accompanied by conditions or instructions, such as the obligation to pay a sum of money to a charitable institution or the state treasury. At the same time, however, the accused is not considered to have a criminal record; the allegation is not entered in the certificate of conduct.

The main hearing is sometimes settled in one date, sometimes several dates are required. There, after reading the indictment, evidence is taken, in particular witnesses are heard. At the end, the closing arguments of the public prosecutor and the defense follow, and you have the “last word” at the very end. Depending on the scope, the judgment is also made on the same day.

What you say and what you don't, we will discuss in detail beforehand.

The prerequisite for ordering pre-trial detention is, on the one hand, an urgent suspicion against the accused, and on the other hand, a ground for detention (e.g., flight risk) must exist. In addition, pre-trial detention must be proportionate.

Your lawyer will take the various legal options to set the remand prisoner free. The defense lawyer's visiting traffic with the remand prisoner may not be restricted.

We are happy to apply for a visiting permit for you.

All penalties imposed are entered in the Federal Central Register (Bundeszentralregister). However, only a few have access to this – above all, the court and the public prosecutor's office fall back on it in subsequent proceedings.

For many clients, what is in the Certificate of Conduct (Führungszeugnis) is more important. This sometimes has to be presented, and its content is decisive as to whether one may describe oneself as having “no criminal record”. As a rule, an entry is omitted in the Certificate of Conduct if:

1. No previous entries exist in the Federal Central Register, and
2. The conviction amounts to no more than 3 months imprisonment (suspended) or no more than 90 daily rates fine.

Probation means that the prison sentence does not have to be “served”. Rather, a “test phase” begins in which the convicted person must not commit any further crimes and must adhere to certain conditions and instructions. If they violate these, the probation may be revoked and the full prison sentence must be “served”. If they survive the “test phase”, the sentence is remitted. The length of the probation period is usually about three years and is to be distinguished from the duration of the prison sentence.

In juvenile criminal law (for adolescents up to 18 years and partly for young adults up to 21 years), it is taken into account that the accused are still developing. The entire juvenile criminal law is dominated by the so-called educational thought. Therefore, some special features must be observed, especially regarding legal consequences. For adolescents, the main hearing – unlike for young adults and adults – is also not public.

A criminal complaint is the communication of a possibly punishable set of facts to the public prosecutor's office. Anyone can file a criminal complaint. The criminal complaint usually leads to an initial suspicion by the public prosecutor. What the public prosecutor knows once, they do not forget – in other words: A criminal complaint cannot be withdrawn.

To be distinguished from this is the request for prosecution. This refers to the will of the injured party that the behavior of the accused be prosecuted under criminal law. Basically, crimes are prosecuted even without this will. Examples of exceptions are (so-called application offenses): Trespassing § 123 StGB, Insult §§ 185, 194 StGB and theft within the family §§ 242, 247 StGB. The request for prosecution can generally be withdrawn according to § 77d StGB.

Legal assistance supports you in collecting and securing evidence and preparing the facts for the public prosecutor's office and ensures that your interests are sufficiently considered in the proceedings. This includes, among other things, the enforcement of claims for damages or action under the Protection Against Violence Act. At the same time, they explain any developments in the proceedings to you and ensure that the probative value of your witness statement remains unimpaired.

Regardless of this, you should definitely bring in a lawyer according to the above standards for accused persons if you could possibly have made yourself liable to prosecution within the scope of this set of facts.

As a witness, legal assistance is generally not required. Two exceptions are to be made:

1. The statement is of special importance to you personally. In this case, seek advice on the extent to which impairment of the probative value is to be feared through certain behaviors or contact, or which measures are available for your protection.
2. You may have made yourself liable to prosecution within the scope of the underlying set of facts. In this case, see the questions regarding the accused.

Yes. Although the crime must be proven to you without the court having “reasonable doubts”. This is also more difficult in word-against-word constellations, but not unlikely. Here it is particularly important to cast doubt on the credibility of the witness and the reliability of their statement with the help of your defense lawyer.