The Burden of Reimbursement of Procedural Costs in the Criminal Procedure of the Federal Republic of Germany: Features of Legal Regulation

Introduction: the paper analyzes the provisions on the content of the burden of reimbursement of procedural costs in the criminal procedure of the Federal Republic of Germany (hereinafter referred to as Germany). The institution of procedural costs is the subject of constant, intermittent discussion, operating with empirically unprovable assumptions about the fiscal benefits of the convict’s burden. Taking into account this state of discussion, there is a need to summarize the positive experience of analyzing the distribution of the burden of reimbursement of procedural costs in the criminal procedure of Germany. In this regard, the purpose of the study is to analyze the features of the legal regulation of the institution of procedural costs in the legislation of Germany. The question is raised about the goals and objectives of the limitations of the general principle of reimbursement of procedural costs. Methods: using the comparative law method of scientific research as the main one, the authors trace the trend of theoretical and legislative ideas about the essence of the burden of reimbursement of procedural costs in the criminal procedure of Germany, analyze controversial issues of modern criminal procedure science, and clarify and correct previously formed judgments on the issue of the current state of the institution of procedural costs. Results: based on the conducted research, four limitations have been deduced in the implementation of the “all-or-nothing” principle, which are of particular importance in the criminal procedure of Germany. Conclusions: an analysis of the legal regulation of reimbursement of procedural costs in Germany demonstrates that the “all-or-nothing” principle in the distribution of the burden of costs between the convicted person and the state is ultimately violated with partial conviction, partial acquittal, partial appeal, and coincidence of appeals of the convicted person and the prosecutor.