Agent Provocateur one calls a LOCK informer. It is usually active on behalf of authorities, like police or secret services. It tried covers, thus unidentified, to tempt others to committing from criminal offences to so that against these then with direct obligation (police) or in the way of a criminal preliminary investigation can be proceeded. An agent Provocateur comes of regularly the covered coworker surrounding field of police and secret services (V-man, unofficial coworker, probably however not covered investigator).

Examples

• A V-man of the state criminal police agency motivates an acquaintance, whom he knows as an unstable person and from whom he knows that he is in money concerns as an agent Provocateur, to a dead certain drug business. For this purpose he announces it with a covered investigator of the tariff or the police, to which with the business as supplier or customers is to appear. After one or more sample business for creation of confidence, with which the respective commercial quantity of the drug is increased, an access with a larger quantity takes place. Frequently the author handed only police drug over between V-man and covered investigator with all business. Regardless of its he will have to count on imprisonment of several years because of bad action rubbing on in not small quantity. The new European Court of Justice for human rights (EGMR) has such police practices - which are usual also in Germany - already in several European Union countries complains of. The BGH adheres not to the iurisdiction of the EGMR and considers such a act provocation only mitigating on the fixing of the penalty level and this also only, if the act contribution of the author behind the provocation steps into the background.
• Another example of the employment would be worker strikes, with which an agent Provocateur was to lead the strike to escalation and/or prohibition.

Use of agents provocateurs

• Agents provocateurs are to have been used allegedly with the mass demonstrations in Genova in the year 2001. They are brought also in connection with terrorism.

Iurisdiction

Germany

German iurisdiction goes out of it that the employment of V-persons and of covers a working police execution official for the fight particularly more dangerously and with difficulty clear upable criminality, to which in particular also the drug traffic belongs necessarily and permissible is (BVerfGE 57, 250 [284]; BGHSt 32, 115 [121/122] m.w.N.).

Act-provoking behavior of police LOCK informers can be accepted after the iurisdiction only within the limits set by the constitutional state principle (see Urt. the senate in GA 1975, 333, 334; furthermore BGH NStZ 1984, 78 m.w.N.).

Of the Federal High Court (BGH) in constant iurisdiction (NJW 1980, 1761; 1981, 1626; Defence counsel 1981, 276; NStZ 1981, 70; 1984, 78) developed substantial valuation criteria read:

• Basis and extent of the suspicion existing against the accused,
• Kind, intensity and purpose of the influencing control,
• Act readiness and
• own, not foreignsteered activities of the accused.

The 1. Senate of the BGH takes in its judgement of 23. May 1984 - 1 STR 148/84 a procedure obstacle by the inadmissible LOCK informer employment on, but does not solve the case on the side of the debt of the accused by mitigation of punishment.

If an unsuspected and first not do-bent person is tempted by the man of confidence led by an office-holder in the state which can be added a way to a criminal offence and if this leads to a criminal procedure, in it an offence against the principle of the fair procedure is appropriate for 1 sentence 1 MRK in accordance with kind 6 exp. This offence is to be determined in the judgement reasons. It is to be compensated during the appointment of the legal consequences. The measure of the compensation for convention-adverse acting is separately to the expression to bring (BGH, judgement from 18 November 1999 - 1 STR 221/99 - = BGHSt 45, 321).

Judgements of the Federal Constitutional Court

• BVerfGE 57, 250 - V-man full text]
• BVerfG, NJW 1995, 651
• BVerfGE 107, 339 - NPD Verbotsverfahren full text

BGH judgements

• BGHSt of 32, 345 - act provocation police LOCK informers full text
• BGHSt 45, 321 - act provocation by man of confidence full text
• BGHSt 47, 44 - act provocation by man of confidence full text

Austria

The Austrian code of criminal procedure contains an express prohibition of the LOCK informer employment in "§ 25. Nevertheless it always rejected the highest Court of Justice so far to draw from an injury of this regulation prozessuale or material-legal consequences for the criminal procedure against the enticed one (SSt 27/20 and 50/30) (BGHSt, 32, 345 (355))

Articles in category "Agent Provocateur"

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