Despite the same system, criminal law is always shaped by the culture of the country. In order to talk about differences and similarities, Halle is welcoming guests from afar this week.
Halle (dpa/sa) – How perpetrators are punished in court always depends on the norms of the respective country. “In Japan, for example, cases of assisted suicide are dealt with very differently,” said Henning Rosenau, professor at the Chair of Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure Law and Medical Law at the University of Halle-Wittenberg in an interview with the German Press Agency. And the penal system is much stricter there compared to Germany. In Germany, on the other hand, criminal law shows the importance of self-determination and individuality, said Rosenau.
Scientists from Japan will also be guests in Halle on March 9th to talk about these differences. “German criminal law was the model there for the reform of criminal law in 1907,” explained the professor. Japan is by no means the only country. “The fact that German criminal law is playing such a pioneering role may also have something to do with the fact that we Germans think so precisely, systematically and precisely. After all, this is absolutely necessary for decisive criminal law.”
At the beginning of the 20th century, German criminal law science was considered to be leading. But even in the more recent past – for example with the reform of criminal law in Turkey a little over ten years ago – Germany has been a role model. In the meantime, the Japanese, like the German, is a very outstanding criminal law science, said Rosenau, who is also chairman of the genetic diagnostics commission at the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin. “The exchange with the colleagues in Japan is therefore very fruitful for both sides,” said the native of Lower Saxony.
At the conference in Halle, not only scientific questions but also current questions related to criminal law will be dealt with. For example, the legal handling of content that infringes or poses a threat to legal interests within social networks is on the agenda. “A dialogue between the countries on this topic is certainly good. After all, it’s about finding at least a minimum consensus on how to deal with perpetrators,” said Rosenau. It is important to drill a thick board: “Because they quickly reach their limits when it comes to reconciling the norms of different nations,” said the 58-year-old.
In addition to hate crime on the Internet, the researchers also want to take a legal look at reproductive medicine and the framework conditions for a sustainable society in terms of commercial criminal law. A total of around 50 colleagues are registered.
