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The German reunification of 1990 was legally the annexation of West Berlin (a separately administered occupied territory) and East Germany (the German Democratic Republic, or GDR) by West Germany (the Federal Republic of Germany, or FRG). What effect did this have on the status of people who were serving criminal sentences under East German law? In particular:

  • If, at the time of reunification, someone was serving time for a crime that was on the books in GDR law but not FRG law, did they get (a) immediate release, (b) release upon application by the convict, or (c) no change in their status?

  • If, at the time of reunification, someone was serving time for a crime that was on the books in both GDR law and in FRG law, but the two sets of laws prescribed different sentences, were these sentences (a) automatically shortened or lengthened, (b) shortened or lengthened on application by the convict/prosecution, or (c) left unchanged?

  • More generally, were those who had been convicted of a crime under GDR law, where said crime was also on the books in the FRG, entitled to a retrial under FRG jurisprudence, or were all past convictions of this sort left to stand?

Psychonaut
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    Some info here, esp. in the last two paragaphs: https://deutsche-einheit-1990.de/ministerien/ministerium-des-inneren/aenderungen-im-strafvollzug/ . In short there were amnesties for political and minor crimes. Most other sentences were reduced by a third. Convictions could be reassessed (but I am not sure this actually happened or what the results were) – Jan Nov 09 '20 at 10:51
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    One interesting difference between East German and West German criminal justice is the role of alcohol. In East Germany, sentences were stricter if a crime had been committed under the influence. In West Germany and now, Germany, sentences are more lenient. – Jan Nov 09 '20 at 10:55
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    @Jan: this concerns the situation before the reunification. Rules regarding the time after reunification were inserted into the EGStGB (Einführungsgesetz zum StGB Art 315 pp), but this is quite complex. See also Art 18 Einigungsvertrag (http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/einigvtr/art_18.html) and Anlage I Kapitel III C II (http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/einigvtr/BJNR208890990BJNE008201377.html). – tohuwawohu Nov 09 '20 at 10:56
  • @towuwawohu: the reduction of most sentences by a third was passed less then a week before reunification, though. The amnesties for political prisoners were much earlier, ofc. – Jan Nov 09 '20 at 10:59
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    Another minor point: the criminal code of the FRG was applicable in West Berlin, too. It's possible that there were particular penal rules that were applicable only for Berlin (West) (Landesstrafrecht), but in general, the criminal code (Strafgesetzbuch des Bundes) was applicable there, too. – tohuwawohu Nov 09 '20 at 11:14
  • Since west German federal law (Bundesgesetze) were generally taken over (Übernahmegesetze) by Berlin (West) state law (Landesgesetze), there was no difference in the area of the Criminal law (Strafgesetzbuch). – Mark Johnson Nov 09 '20 at 11:41
  • Things like 'murder' were of course in both 'books'. But since the 60s both criminal codes diverged substantially. The unification negotiations were therefore a bit complicated and an answer here necessarily superficial, somewhat. But doable for a gist. If: please clarify your inquiry by adding more (examples?) of your own prior research and clear up what you mean with "West Berlin" (I completely fail to understand your meaning & intent here. Is that mixed up?) – LаngLаngС Nov 09 '20 at 11:47
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    @LangLangC: If, as Mark Johnson writes, the criminal code of West Germany was adopted in West Berlin with few or no changes, then that part of my question can be considered moot. – Psychonaut Nov 09 '20 at 12:12
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    Answers can still rectify little misconceptions in a Q via a small frame challenge. But may I suggest to either clarify that you assume(d) West-Berlin was legally so much separated from FRG that it would have had a very different criminal code up to 1990 (it was initially, but laws like StGB were later always phrased as "applicable to territory of FRG and West-Berlin"; or that for simplicity you just remove that part about West-Berlin as your focus seems to be around 1989 when not in legal specifics but in practice there was no longer a meaningful difference to observe? – LаngLаngС Nov 09 '20 at 12:52
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    @LangLangC: I've removed the references to West Berlin, per your suggestion. – Psychonaut Nov 09 '20 at 13:22
  • All changes to the Strafgesetzbuch (first one in 1953) were also valid in Berlin (Berlin Klausel). Minor exceptions existed that were defined in the 2 introduction laws of 1969. – Mark Johnson Nov 09 '20 at 13:25
  • The formal basis of authority differed in West Berlin, with a much larger role for the Allied powers, but they tried to keep the legal systems compatible in most practical issues. – o.m. Nov 10 '20 at 18:39
  • One interesting difference, although not relevant in practice, is that West Berlin still technically had the death penalty as long as it was under allied control. As far as I recall, the only crime it applied to was not carrying your identity card. Neither East nor West Germany had the death penalty. – Kevin Keane Nov 11 '20 at 00:43
  • For compleatment: The last execution in East Germany was 1981, before it was abolished in 1987. Liste von in der DDR hingerichteten Personen ; The last execution in Berlin took place in 1949 and formally existed until 15th of March 1989 for criminal actions against the Allied Occupating Powers' interests (but never used). It did not apply because you weren't carrying your identity card. – Mark Johnson Nov 11 '20 at 05:15
  • "The German reunification of 1990 was legally the annexation of West Berlin (...) and East Germany" This is wrong. If you want to simplify, legally West Berlin unified with East Berlin to form a state and together with the other East German states they joined the Federal Republic of Germany. – Roland Nov 11 '20 at 09:00
  • For Berlin: as a state (Bundesland) came under the full sovereignty of the Federal Republic after the Four Powers renounced all of their rights in the Two Plus Four Agreement. For East Germany the exact wording was: The Volkskammer [People's Chamber] declares the GDR's accession to the scope of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic Germany according to Article 23 of the Basic Law effective October 3, 1990. Plenarprotokoll der Volkskammersitzung vom 22. August 1990 (PDF) – Mark Johnson Nov 11 '20 at 09:33

1 Answers1

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Thanks to some hints provided in the comments to my original post here, I have been able to locate some sources that answer my questions, at least on a high level:

  • Beginning in 1989, even before the details of political reunification were being seriously considered, the GDR granted a number of automatic amnesties. Two of these—one on 1 October 1989 and another on 6 December 1989—were targetted at specific classes of crimes, including political crimes like Republikflucht that were not recognized as such in the FRG. At the same time, the GDR also significantly loosened its rules concerning judicial review of sentences and convictions, a circumstance that many prisoners availed themselves of in order to get their sentences reduced or convictions overturned. A third amnesty in 1990, which was made in furtherance of the impending reunification, resulted in a reduction in sentences across the board. Excepted from this amnesty were "Nazi crimes, war crimes, crimes against humanity, murder, and aggravated violent or sexual offences", which were also illegal in the FRG.

    Together, these measures had the effect of reducing the prison population from 24,171 in November 1989 to 4375 in July 1990, with still further reductions in the days immediately before reunification. So relatively speaking, there were not all that many prisoners left when reunification took effect, and of these, it's unlikely that many (or even any) of them had been convicted for activities that weren't considered crimes in the FRG.

  • The third amnesty, the law for which seems to have been carried over into West German law, granted every remaining prisoner the right to have his or her conviction reviewed by an independent commission. These commissions were indeed constituted after reunification, and in about half of all cases the committee recommended clemency, conditional release, or quashing of the conviction.

Nothing I have found indicates that there was any automatic adjustment of the sentences apart from the above-noted amnesties; it seems all prisoners who wanted their sentences altered or convictions overturned had to initiate judicial review themselves, either pre- or post-unification.

I've found this information in various primary and secondary sources, though it's all briefly summarized (with references) in Corrections in the German Democratic Republic: A Field for Research by Jörg Arnold and Johannes Feest (British Journal of Criminology 35(1), 1995, pp. 81–94, DOI: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.bjc.a048490).

Psychonaut
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    A view from the trenches of an appellate court judge who dealt with this matter - https://svjt.se/svjt/1992/646. He is now an academic lawyer at Durham University, England (I think). Probably quite approachable if you’re doing legal research. – J Asia Nov 09 '20 at 16:13
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    The amnesty of October 1st, 1989 was before the begin of political changes (although that there was a political crisis was somewhat obvious by then). It was probably for the 40th anniversary of the GDR? – Jan Nov 09 '20 at 16:16
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    And a quick reunification was still quite unthinkable in December 1989, so that second amnesty may be somewhat off-topic as well. Although it obviously reduced the number of people incarcerated for things that would be legal in the FRG by a lot. – Jan Nov 09 '20 at 16:22
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    The Volkskammerwahl 1990 took place on the 18th of March, where the SED lost power. Currency and Customs union on the 1st of July. Decision to join was made on the 23rd of August. Any decisions about adaptating jail sentences to West German law would have started after that. – Mark Johnson Nov 09 '20 at 16:38
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    @Jan: The first amnesty is on-topic for the reason you mentioned; namely, that it released those imprisoned for crimes that did not exist in the FRG. This addresses my first question by making it somewhat moot. I will update my answer to make this point clearer. – Psychonaut Nov 10 '20 at 07:55