Shoplifting €110 Worth of Clothing Under §242 StGB

“Where they live, everything is for sale; where we live, everything gets stolen.”
Arkady Davidovich

In various issues of our newspaper “Law and People,” we have written about petty and large-scale theft in Germany, including shoplifting. Unfortunately, we must admit that a large share of such thefts is committed by people from the former Soviet Union. It needs to be absolutely clear that any theft, even a very minor one, is a crime — an act punishable under §§242-248 of the German Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch, StGB). The punishment for theft depends on how the offense is classified, the motive behind it, and its consequences. A criminal penalty for theft without aggravating circumstances (§242 StGB) may be limited to a modest fine. Theft committed under aggravating circumstances (§243 StGB) is punishable by imprisonment from three months to ten years; in that case a fine is excluded. Unfortunately, as is especially common with shoplifting cases, people tend to underestimate how serious the situation is, assuming that no one will really punish them for casually pocketing something in a store. Unfortunately, in Germany, this is very often not the case.

German criminal procedure provides for an expedited or simplified procedure (the so-called Beschleunigtes Verfahren). This procedure follows a special procedural form and applies to certain categories of criminal cases. It is designed to resolve criminal cases within a shortened time frame and under simplified rules. Offenses involving foreign nationals very often fall under this expedited or simplified procedure, and there is a reason for that. A foreign national is present in Germany, as a rule, on the basis of a temporary residence permit, and the expedited procedure thus facilitates prompt punishment of the offender. The matter is further complicated by the fact that if the person who committed the theft does not hold German citizenship, information about the conviction is immediately forwarded to the immigration authority (Ausländerbehörde) once the court issues its judgment. In that case, when applying for a visa, a residence permit, or German citizenship, this information will be taken into account by the responsible official when reviewing the relevant immigration file. As a result, a criminal record entry can have all sorts of negative consequences down the line, for example, difficulties renewing a residence permit or obtaining a visa in the future.

For this reason, seeking out a highly qualified lawyer in good time is extremely important, since the consequences of what may look like a minor offense can turn out to be truly dire. In this article, we describe one interesting case from our practice in which we managed to help a young woman — let’s call her Margarita — who, through sheer foolishness, ended up in a rather difficult situation.

Client Story: A Sale at Peek & Cloppenburg

Margarita had come to Germany not long before to attend paid continuing-education courses in “Accounting and Auditing.” She had been issued a residence permit for a fixed term, covering the duration of her studies. In fact, her plans included somehow finding a way to stay in the country. So after her studies, she intended to start actively looking for work. Like many women, Margarita was “not immune to the finer things in life.” Not yet burdened with family obligations, she often went out with friends in the evenings, took weekend trips out into the countryside, loved visiting trendy restaurants and bars and, of course, went shopping... At the time, Margarita had no steady income and had to draw on her savings — fortunately, they were still enough, and life went on as usual.

As fate would have it, one fine day the woman visited a Peek & Cloppenburg store. And who could blame her — that very day, the store happened to have a sale on the summer collection of Margarita’s favorite brand, Michael Kors. That day she had gone to the store with almost no money, “just to look.” But once she saw the range of clothing — and, more importantly, the discounts — she couldn’t hold back and took two ultra-fashionable dresses to try on. Unfortunately for Margarita, it didn’t stop at trying them on. With her long legs and slender figure, she was so taken with what she saw in the mirror that she “simply couldn’t help herself.” Without much thought, she tore off the price tags and all the labels, leaving them in the fitting room, and set out to “slip away” from the store with the unpaid items of women’s clothing that suited her figure so perfectly.

Detained by Security and Searched

As has rightly been observed of women: “A woman knows the four operations of arithmetic well — she divides the bed, multiplies the family, adds to her beauty, and subtracts from her age.” Unfortunately, the heroine of our story, at that moment, failed to calculate or grasp the consequences of her recklessness. Although the store was fairly large, it was well equipped with security cameras. On top of that, a security guard had already been watching the customer for a while — after many years working at the mall, he had developed a sharp eye for such “adventurers.” He noticed Margarita spending more time in the store than an ordinary shopper, looking around, sorting through items, and returning to the same pieces of clothing again and again. Nor did it escape him that the customer had gone into the fitting room with two dresses and come out with just one large handbag. He did not, however, approach our future client prematurely, giving her the chance to pay for the merchandise at the register. In the end, Margarita was stopped as she attempted to leave the store, and the police soon arrived. She was taken to a special room, searched, the beloved merchandise was confiscated, a report was drawn up, and she was then released. Naturally, there was little hope of the story ending without consequences, and our “fashionista” turned to our law firm for qualified legal help.

The Lawyer’s Work: €110 Is Too Much for Minor Significance

As in other similar cases, our criminal defense lawyer immediately requested the case file from the police to choose the right defense tactic. It soon emerged that the amount involved in the theft came to €110. The lawyer explained to the client that this was too large a sum to attempt to have the criminal case discontinued for minor significance under §153 of the German Code of Criminal Procedure (Strafprozessordnung — StPO). It should be noted here that the threshold below which a theft may be considered minor and the case discontinued can vary between German federal states — for example, this amount is €75 in Berlin, and only €50 in Bavaria. So, given the relatively significant amount involved in our client’s theft, she faced a fine or imprisonment for up to five years. Naturally, her continued stay in Germany would also have been in serious doubt. Margarita was in a despondent state, sincerely regretted her foolish act, and was fully relying on our professional help. Our firm’s lawyer, an experienced professional, set aside the moral dimension of the matter entirely and, without delay, set about drafting a detailed petition to the public prosecutor’s office to have the client’s criminal case discontinued.

The main arguments the lawyer set out in the petition were as follows:

the offense had truly been committed without premeditation — on the contrary, “out of foolishness”;
the stolen item was of relatively modest value;
this was the first time in her life the woman had committed an offense punishable under the German Criminal Code;
Margarita deeply regretted her act and would never repeat such an offense in the future.

Outcome: Case Closed With No Fine

We had explained to our client that she should be prepared to pay a fine to the state treasury. To our shared relief, the case and our petition were handled by an understanding prosecutor. Given that the offense had been committed for the first time and had caused no significant harm to public interests, he decided to forgive Margarita and closed the criminal case without even imposing a fine. We were quick to share the good news with our client, while warning her that a second such incident would not “go unpunished so easily.”

Conclusion

Be that as it may, our firm’s lawyer successfully accomplished his task. He secured protection of the client’s interests and ensured she did not face significant punishment simply because of her own recklessness. We urge our readers to take seriously the laws and customs of the country they live in, and not to land in difficult life situations “out of foolishness.” And if this ever happens to you or a member of your family, we advise you to seek professional legal help without delay from a lawyer you trust, one who can effectively protect your rights and legitimate interests.

Criminal Law in Berlin