German criminal law, als laid down primarily in the German Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch – StGB), includes a variety of offences dealing with the killing of another person.
Most notoriously, as compared to the law of other jurisdictions and even common parlance in Germany, German criminal law differentiates between mere intentional homicide and “murder” in a stricter sense as a qualified form of intentional killing. Additionally, killing upon request is considered as a privileged form of homicide as per s. 216.
Negligence is subdivided into negligent homicide as a according to s. 222 as a result-based offence, as well as abandonment as per s. 221 as an offence based on endangerment. The killing of an unborn person is “outsourced” towards ss. 218 and following.
Whether an intentional homicide is subject to s. 211 or s. 212 is of utmost importance due to the differences in sentencing: While s. 211 carries a sentence of no less than 5 years, s. 212 leads automatically to life imprisonment!
Aggravated circumstances in the sense of s. 211 (Mordmerkmale) are divided into three groups; the first and third being constituted by subjective elements belonging to the mens rea (subjektiver Tatbestand), the second made up of elements belonging to the actus reus (objektiver Tatbestand).
For explanations of these, see Part 2!
