General Criminal Law

General criminal law includes the regulations of the German Criminal Code (StGB) within which the individual criminal defence constitutes the core of the defence counsel’s work, starting with the investigation procedure where the prosecutor’s office examines the existence of criminal offences, at least of initial suspicion. Already here, in particular in searches or in orders of summary punishment, defensive measures are urgently required; also after the indictment has been filed, if the competent court examines the accusations made by the public prosecutor’s office. The procedural step most closely linked to criminal law – the main trial – frequently marks the high-profile peak of criminal defence and is particularly challenging.

Law firm Traut also represents clients in incidental actions. As joint plaintiff, the injured party can join the charges brought by the prosecutor’s office and actively participate in the criminal proceeding. The advantages include the right to attend the entire trial, to ask questions and file motions, to obtain information and copies of the files, and to lodge legal remedies if, for example, in the injured party’s opinion the defendant was wrongfully acquitted or if the imposed penalty is too low.

Irrespective thereof, a qualified trial observation can be useful for private individuals or companies, for example for assessing the evidence or for potential recourse proceedings. Law firm Traut provides these legal services from legal advice to implementation.

It is possible that also an uninvolved third party is summoned to interrogation by the police or in court. In his capacity as a witness, a layman does often not know when a question must be answered or when it is permissible to deny testimony, or how to generally behave. In these cases, law firm Traut will provide witness counselling.