ABSTRACT
The increased media interest in miscarriages of justice has also drawn political and scientific attention to the topic, as current scientific research determining the frequency and the causes of wrongful convictions is very sparce in Germany and the last comprehensive academic study examining the topic is from the early 1970s. In the course of the study, all available cases between 1990 and 2016 of wrongfully imprisoned persons in Germany were collected and examined. The German justice system has different criminal courts that vary in their jurisdiction. Statistics as to the number of reopened proceedings could also give information about the frequency of miscarriages of justice. Because of different legislation and different legal systems, the causes of wrongful convictions might vary to a certain extent in different countries. In this regard, there are some characteristics of the German criminal proceeding worth mentioning.
