More than two-thirds of Germans like the idea of treating stowaways in future as an administrative offense rather than a criminal offence. This is evidenced by the results of a representative survey conducted by Infratest dimap commissioned by the Ask the State platform.
As a general rule, anyone caught without a valid ticket must pay a fine. First, the organizers of a representative survey commissioned by Infratest dimap, commissioned by the Ask the State platform, asked participants if they thought it was fair that free riders who did not pay a fine should face a imprisonment.
Here, the opinions of the population are divided: half of the voters with the right to vote believe that it is reasonable. 45% of Germans oppose it. About 5% of respondents have no opinion on this or provided no information.
Supporters of the Greens and the Left Party, in particular, were opposed to changing the sentence for stowaways to imprisonment. The majority of representatives of all other parties represented in the Bundestag agree with the current legal situation.
Found more answer
Responses to the second question, whether traveling without a ticket should be considered an administrative offense with a consequent fine, found a greater response from the population. According to the data received, 69% of German citizens would be in favor of such a change. Only a quarter of the population would oppose it.
The Bundestag is currently discussing a reform of the Sanctions Act, which among other things provides for shorter alternative prison sentences. Hearings of experts within the Committee on Legal Affairs will take place very soon.
How to deal with “hares” in the future
Those who do not seek to pay the fine can alternatively “serve that amount” in jail. The number of days that in this case the victims have to spend behind bars corresponds to the daily standards to which they were sentenced. Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann’s (FDP) plan aims to halve the number of days in prison in the future.
However, the decriminalization of ticketless travel, proposed by politicians from the traffic light coalition, which would also be supported by the majority of citizens, is not part of the envisaged reform. At the same time, the first proposals on how to deal with “hares” in the future should appear in the near future.
The decriminalization project will be ready
“Travelling without a ticket is not included in the Sanctions Act, but will be considered part of the reform of the special part of the criminal code, which I am also planning,” said Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann. The FDP politician promises: “A suitable project will be prepared during this year. And the coalition is aware of this.
The governments of the Länder of Berlin and Bremen presented a proposal to decriminalize free riders at the Conference of Ministers of Justice held in June last year. Most of the votes were then not collected.
Buschmann has “his own ideas on this issue, but we will discuss them first within the coalition. After all, there are not only black and white, but also many different designs.
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