Threat

Threat is a threat offense, the committing of a crime against a person or the person's loved ones are threatened. In this case, it is sufficient that the threat is simulated. It is in this case is of considerable importance that there is a serious threat; whether the Endangered takes this seriously, is immaterial here. It is also irrelevant whether the offender can implement an actual threat or wants. A threat may be made by implied behavior. The threat is a criminal offense which is dealt with in German criminal law in § 241 of the Criminal Code.

General definition

A threat is a serious threat to the mere possibility that a damage to the object ( person, company, object) or an admission of vulnerability of the affected legal interest may arise.

Wording of the law

This provision of § 241 of the Penal Code reads:

(1 ) Any person who threatens a person with the commission of any proceedings against him or a person close to the crime, shall be punished with imprisonment up to one year or a fine.

( 2) Also Whoever, against my better judgment a man pretending that the realization of a directed against him or a person close to the crime was imminent.

Legal interest

The Federal Constitutional Court has the right to peace of the individual and the protected by § 241 of the Criminal Code legal interest referred ( NJW 1995, 2777 ). In the Supreme Court the phrase goes back, is legally protected the individual right safety representatives ( RGSt 32, 102).

The individual constituent elements

Paragraph 1 of the provision contains the actual threat offense. Thereafter, the threat against an (individual) people must be made, not against a collective or organization. The threatened act must be a crime, that a culpable and unlawful act that is punishable in the minimum term of imprisonment of one year ( cf. § 12 StGB).

Paragraph 2 also contains the inserted with the 14th amendment to the Criminal Law Vortäuschungstatbestand, after which also the one who is liable to prosecution, the realization of a foreign or own crime conveys to the victim who was imminent the victims themselves or a related person directly, although this is how the offender know the truth is not the case.

Subjective facts

The offense can only be committed intentionally, in principle sufficient for the implementation of the various constituent elements of a conditional intent. In the case of threat offense of offenders must not only know all the facts which support the legal classification of the threatened act as a crime, but he must also be aware, moreover, that it is a serious offense. In the case of Vortäuschungstatbestandes the perpetrator must act against his better judgment; regarding the simulation so it requires a dolus directus.

Legal consequence

The offense is punishable with imprisonment up to one year or a fine.

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