IV. Statutory Limitation
§ 22. Criminal prosecution of those crimes and offences perpetrated through the dissemination of printed matter with punishable contents, and of any other offences punishable under this law, fall under the statute of limitations after six months.
V. Confiscation
§ 23. Confiscation of printed matter without order by a judge takes place only:
1) if the printed matter does not conform to the regulations contained in §§ 6 and 7, or is disseminated in violation of § 14,
2) if the infringement of a prohibition enacted on the basis of § 15 of this law occurs by means of the printed matter,
3) if the content of the printed matter meets the definition of one of the acts threatened with penalty in §§ 85, 95, 111, 130, or 184 of the German Criminal Code, though in the instances subject to §§ 111 and 130 only if there is serious danger that a delay in confiscating this matter would directly invite or incite a crime or an offense.
§ 24. The court of competent jurisdiction can decide to confirm or reverse a provisional confiscation order.
The public prosecutor’s office must request a decision from the court within 24 hours of the issuance of the confiscation order, and the decision must be handed down by the court within 24 hours of receiving the application.
If the police authority has ordered the confiscation without an order from the public prosecutor’s office, then it must arrange for the proceedings to be sent to the latter without delay and within 12 hours at the latest. The public prosecutor’s office must either order the revocation of the confiscation order by means of an immediately executable directive or apply for court confirmation within 12 hours of receiving the proceedings.
If the authority ordering the confiscation does not receive a confirming court decision within five days of the issuance of the confiscation order, the confiscation becomes invalid and the individual printed items must be released.
§ 25. There is no provision for legal redress against a court decision that revokes a provisional confiscation order.
§ 26. If criminal prosecution in the substance of the case does not begin within two weeks of the confirming court decision, then the provisional confiscation order confirmed by the court is to be revoked.
§ 27. The confiscation of printed matter applies only to copies intended for distribution. It may also extend to printing plates and printing blocks; with respect to printed matter in the stricter sense, upon request by the persons involved, the police authorities are to deposit the type setting instead of confiscating it.
When confiscation occurs, the passages of the writing that provoked it are to be marked and the laws upon which they infringe are to be cited. Separable parts of the printed matter (supplements of a newspaper, etc.) that do not contain anything punishable by law are to be excluded from the confiscation.
print version
return to list
previous document