ABSTRACT
This was not always so. Until the reforms of the 19th century, an inquisitorial approach prevailed.3
Today, German criminal procedure is governed by the Strafprozeßordnung (StPO: Criminal Procedure Order/Code of Criminal Procedure) of 1 February 1877, variously amended and reissued. The StPO is supplemented by the provisions of the GVG (Judicature Law) concerning the criminal courts (§ 1 StPO) and the Staatsanwaltschaft (public prosecutor’s office).4
