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Under German law, there is a "duty to rescue" according to StGB 323c (emphasis mine):

(1) Whoever does not render assistance in the case of an accident or a common danger or emergency

[...]

incurs a penalty of imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or a fine.

I noted that the law explicitly mentions "accident or a common danger or emergency" ("Unglücksfällen oder gemeiner Gefahr oder Not").

This obviously covers all types of accidents and health emergencies.

However, does this wording also cover emergencies due to deliberate acts such as crimes?

Reading the law, I would think that for example if I see someone beating up someone else, that might not be covered, because getting beaten up is not an "accident" or "common danger" (but a crime).

Or am I interpreting the law too narrowly? Is there any case law about a duty to provide help (e.g. calling the police) in the face of a deliberate act / crime?

sleske
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3 Answers3

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The "Unglücksfall" mentioned in § 323c StGB isn't strictly the same as an "accident". An "Unglücksfall" is a sudden event that causes, or threatens to cause, harm to body or life, or significant harm to material goods. This encompasses a lot of accidents like a pedestrian getting hit by a car or someone having a stroke.

It also encompasses situations that are commonly not regarded as accidents, like crimes, though.

For example, in 1993 the Bundesgerichtshof confirmed the opinion of the Landgericht Tübingen that being victim of a crime can possibly be considered a kind of "Unglücksfall": BGH 1 StR 792/92 (in German)

This viewpoint is reinforced by a ruling from 1999, where both the Landgericht Hamburg and the Bundesgerichtshof consider rape as a kind of "Unglücksfall", obligating witnesses to provide assistance: BGH 5 StR 532/99 (also German)

Inconspicuous seagull
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7

The duty to rescue does not specify how someone got into "common danger" aka gemeine Gefahr.

It is applicable, regardless of circumstances.

Being beaten up is definetely a "gemeine Gefahr". Causing someone to be victim of such a "gemeine Gefahr" is indeed a crime: Gemeingefährliche Straftat. There is no "either or" here. You can be in danger and it can be a crime. One does not exclude the other.

Please note that you don't have to put yourself at risk by confronting the perpetrator. But you do need to call the police and maybe an ambulance to help the victim.

nvoigt
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5

It's agreed on that the duty to rescue can be waived or reduced when this would put oneself in danger. So if the victim is lying in the middle of a highway, you probably can't be expected to do a Cardiopulmonary resuscitation right in the middle of the road. But you can still be expected to call the police and an ambulance. Because that is so easy today, it's very unlikely you can ever argue that this was unreasonable.

There's a dispute over whether it's reasonable for you to call for aid if you're putting yourself in danger of prosecution. Attorneys are in agreement that this is not the case when you're responsible for the accident yourself. Here's a textbook example for that (quoted after the above link):

T ist betrunken Auto gefahren und dabei mit dem Wagen des O kollidiert. Er lässt sich von einem Freund von der Unfallstelle abholen, ohne dem schwerverletzten O zu helfen. Hier war die Hilfeleistung dem T eindeutig zumutbar.

T was driving drunk and hit the car of O. He calls a friend to pick him up without helping the severely wounded O. Here, rendering help was clearly reasonable.

The case is less clear if the wounding of O is not related to the crime of T, as in this example:

T hat drei Monate zuvor einen Raubüberfall begangen und ist seitdem untergetaucht. Während er über die Landstraße fährt, entdeckt er im Straßengraben den durch einen Autounfall schwerverletzten O. Hier wäre es T zumindest zumutbar, von einer Notrufsäule aus einen Rettungswagen zu alarmieren, da diese Hilfeleistung wohl nicht mit einem erheblichen Strafverfolgungsrisiko für ihn verbunden wäre.

T was involved in a robbery three months ago and has been hiding since. While he's driving on a country road, he finds the severely wounded O lying in the ditch. Here, it would be reasonable to expect T to call the ambulance (anonymously) from a first-aid post, as this wouldn't put him at great risk of prosecution.

Thus failure to render help in particular also applies if you're responsible for the bad state of the victim. It doesn't matter whether it was an accident or a deliberate act. Other commentaries seem to indicate that it's even more complicated and requires a case-by-case decision.

PMF
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