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The Process of a Police Investigation
How long does the Police Investigation Take?
It is the duty of the police to investigate until they gain an overall understanding of the incident that is conclusive, or until they believe further investigation will not produce any more findings. Once the police have closed their investigation, they hand the case files over to the state prosecutor’s office, which reviews the findings. The state prosecutor can request the police to conduct a follow-up investigation. If the state prosecutor’s office judges the findings to be sufficient, they record in the case files that the investigation is complete. At this point the state prosecutor presents the files to the court, which then decides whether or not there is sufficient evidence to begin the main trial.
A long time may pass until the case comes to trial in either the local court (»Amtsgericht«_) or the regional court (»Landgericht«_). In cases where the defendant is imprisoned on remand, the court is obligated to begin the trial at the latest within six months after the incident. If you have the impression that nothing has been happening since you filed the report, you can ask about status of the investigation or the trial by filing an inquiry regarding the progress of the proceedings (»Sachstandsanfrage«).
What is a »Beschleunigtes Verfahren«?
In certain cases, offenders, at the request of the state prosecutor, may receive a sentence within 14 days after the incident. This process is referred to as a »beschleunigtes Verfahren« (accelerated procedure). However, this is only possible if the offender is charged as an adult and is at least 21 years old. The maximum penalty for an accelerated procedure is imprisonment for one year.
It is desirable to begin court proceedings closer to the time of the incident, but this specific type of procedure has distinct disadvantages for the victim of a criminal offense. Normally, it does not give them the chance to exert any influence on the conviction.
Dismissal of Charges and the Option to Appeal
At the end of the preliminary hearing, the state prosecutor decides whether to prosecute the case in court or whether to dismiss the charges. If you clearly explained that you were interested in seeing the offender punished, the state prosecutor has to provide you with an official order to stop proceedings (»Einstellungsbescheid«), which contains an explanation as to why the proceedings were stopped.
This decision can be made for a variety of reasons. Charges must be dismissed if there is »insufficient evidence« (»aus Mangel an Beweisen«_) or the state prosecutor believes the offense to be de minimus, i.e. too little blame (»Einstellung wegen geringer Schuld«_). Terminating the proceedings can also be the result of a settlement such as paying a monetary fine or what is known as victim-offender reconciliation (»Täter-Opfer-Ausgleich«).
If you think that the state prosecutor has overlooked certain factors or did not consider them carefully enough, you can file a written complaint in an attempt to appeal the decision to dismiss the charges Use fact-based arguments to demonstrate what you don’t agree with. If you have learned of additional facts or evidence, you should include these in your written complaint. You can do this on your own or with the help of a lawyer.
(OPP)
