Press release No. 378 of 25 October 2017
WIESBADEN – As reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) about 5.2 million criminal investigation proceedings were completed by public prosecution offices in Germany in 2016. This was an increase of 3.9% on 2015 (about 5.0 million proceedings).
According to the procedural law in Germany public prosecution offices have to lead and finish pre-court criminal investigation proceedings. During their investigation they have to find out facts against and in favor the suspected persons. An investigation may result in charges being pressed, however, from a statistical point of view, this is not the most frequent outcome.
Regarding the type of offence about one third of the total change between 2016 and 2015 (63,991 of 192,111 proceedings) referred to the Residence Act. In 2016 the Residence Act was topic in 8.5% of all criminal proceedings compared to 7.5% in 2015 and 3.7% in 2013.
The contribution of Offences against life and health to the total change between 2016 and 2015 was about 19% (36,109 of 192,111). Road traffic offences contributed as well to the total increase by about 19% (36,104 of 192,111).
| Offence group | 2015 | 2016 | Change | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | % | Count | % | Count | % | |
| Total proceedings completed | 4.989,559 | 100.0 | 5.181,670 | 100.0 | 192,111 | 3.9 |
| Offences against the state | 29,346 | 0.6 | 39,584 | 0.8 | 10,238 | 34.9 |
| Sexual offences | 53,140 | 1.1 | 55,837 | 1.1 | 2,697 | 5.1 |
| Offences against life and health | 432,680 | 8.7 | 468,789 | 9.0 | 36,109 | 8.3 |
| Offences against property | 1.745,573 | 35.0 | 1.728,189 | 33.4 | –17,384 | –1.0 |
| Road traffic offences | 827,000 | 16.6 | 863,104 | 16.7 | 36,104 | 4.4 |
| Economic crimes | 133,199 | 2.7 | 142,635 | 2.8 | 9,436 | 7.1 |
| Environmental crimes | 17,349 | 0.3 | 15,931 | 0.3 | –1,418 | –8.2 |
| Offences commited in public offices | 36,418 | 0.7 | 35,828 | 0.7 | –590 | –1.6 |
| Acts violating the Residence Act | 374,553 | 7.5 | 438,544 | 8.5 | 63,991 | 17.1 |
| Acts violating the Narcotics Law | 328,457 | 6.6 | 347,430 | 6.7 | 18,973 | 5.8 |
| Other offences | 1.011,844 | 20.3 | 1.045,799 | 20.2 | 33,955 | 3.4 |