Agreement on guilt and punishment

A agreement on the guilt and punishment (plea deal) is a frequently used form of diversion. Compared to other deviations, it is always considered and not only in specific or milder cases. For the accused, it can thus represent an interesting variant of solving the case in situations where a more favorable form of diversion, which would ensure a (conditional) suspension of criminal prosecution, does not come into consideration.

If the results of the investigation sufficiently prove the conclusion that the act took place, that this act is a criminal act and that it was committed by the accused, the public prosecutor can initiate negotiations on a plea agreement at the request of the accused or even without such a request.

A condition for negotiating a plea agreement is a statement by the accused that he committed the act for which he is being prosecuted, if there are no reasonable doubts about the veracity of his statement based on the evidence obtained so far and other results of the pre-trial proceedings. The plea agreement is negotiated by the prosecutor with the accused. When negotiating a plea agreement, the public prosecutor also takes into account the interests of the aggrieved party.

If a plea agreement is reached, the public prosecutor will deliver a copy of it to the accused, his defense attorney and the aggrieved party who has properly and timely filed his claim. At the same time, he submits to the court, within the scope of the negotiated agreement, a proposal for the approval of the agreement on guilt and punishment.

This approval is not completely automatic and there may be cases where the agreement is not approved. In a positive case, approval takes place in the form of a judgment.