The new edition of this seminal text outlines the fundamental aspects of the German approach to criminal procedure. It explores a wide range of issues from setting out the basic procedural principles to presenting the main players in the criminal justice system, pre-trial investigations, the path from indictment to trial judgment, rules of evidence, sentencing, and appeals and post-conviction review. As far as it is useful for an introductory text, the differences between proceedings against adults and juveniles are highlighted.

The theoretical discussion of decision-making and style of judgment writing is supported by practical insights through specimen translations of an indictment, a trial judgment and an appellate judgment by the Federal Court of Justice.

Michael Bohlander is the International Co-Investigating Judge at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia and a judge at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers. He holds the Chair in Comparative and International Criminal Law at Durham Law School (UK). From 1991 - 2004 he was a civil and criminal judge in the German judiciary. He is the General Editor of the International Criminal Law Review, the General Editor of Studies in International and Comparative Criminal Law and a member of a number of editorial and advisory boards. His publications have been cited widely by and before courts and authorities in several national and international jurisdictions.

Summary of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Basic Concepts
3. Actors in the Criminal Justice System
4. Pre-trial Investigation
5. From the Decision to Prosecute to Judgment at First Instance
6. Evidence
7. Sentencing and Enforcement: An Overview
8. Appeals and Post-conviction Review
Annex 1: Indictment to the Schwurgericht for Aggravated Murder and Other Offences
Annex 2: Judgment of the Schwurgericht (Imposition of Life Sentence)
Annex 3: Judgment of the Bundesgerichtshof (Acquittal)