ABSTRACT
Plea bargaining has come to West Germany. Plea bargaining existed, but it was carried on behind closed doors, subject to no formal procedural regulation or safeguards. Plea bargaining is as much a part of formal criminal procedure in the United States as trial by jury. In Arizona, for example, rules concerning plea bargaining have been formally incorporated into the Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure. In the field of white-collar crime, however, full-fledged plea bargaining is occurring without legislative authorization through the collaboration of judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys. Plea bargaining in West Germany is a relatively new and limited phenomenon. Reconciling plea bargaining with traditional German legal philosophy and principles will be the highest hurdle of all. West Germany's criminal justice community must attempt to reconcile actual practice and basic ideals, never an enviable task. Only time will tell whether West Germany is capable of "dealing with dealing" by formally accepting it and regulating it.
