Crimes committed out of associations (legal persons and associations of persons) can only be punishable by a fine in accordance with the law on administrative offences (OWiG) under applicable law. This does not allow an appropriate response to corporate crime. The maximum penalty limit of EUR 10 million applies regardless of the size of the association; in particular, it does not allow a sensitive sanction against financially strong multinational corporations and thus penalises smaller and medium-sized enterprises. Concrete and comprehensible measurement rules for federal fines are missing as well as legally secure incentives for investments in compliance. In addition, the current law places the prosecution of even the most serious corporate crime at the sole discretion of the competent authorities, which has led to a mixed and insufficient punishment. Association states of German companies abroad can often not be followed. The OWiG and its procedural law, which are designed for mere administrative injustice, are no longer a timely basis for the prosecution and punishment of criminal corporate behaviour.
The aim of the draft is to impose sanctions on associations whose purpose is to operate economically on an independent legal basis, to subject them to the principle of legality and to allow for appropriate punishment of federations by means of improved instruments. At the same time, it is intended to promote compliance measures and provide incentives for companies with internal investigations to help clarify criminal offences.
The Law on the Sanctions of Association-Related Crimes (Article 1) provides a new basis for penalising associations. It applies to associations whose purpose is aimed at an economic business operation, provides the prosecution authorities and courts with a sufficiently sharp and flexible sanctioning instrument and for the first time creates association-specific measurement criteria as well as an association sanctions register. The association procedure, which has so far been regulated only by rudimentary law, is being reorganized. Association-specific recruitment regulations ensure the tracking flexibility required in practice and allow, in particular, the consideration of compliance measures. The association's involvement in the procedure by conducting internal investigations is also regulated and associated with mitigating sanctions.