The standard German terms for construction contracts, the VOB/B, set out what a contractor must do with a doubt. If he has concerns about the planned method, the materials supplied or another firm’s work, he must tell the client unverzüglich – möglichst schon vor Beginn der Arbeiten – schriftlich: without delay, if possible before work begins, and in writing (§ 4(3)). This document is the Bedenkenanzeige. A contractor whose work is obstructed must also report it in writing without delay (§ 6(1)). If he does not, he can claim the obstruction later only if the client clearly knew about it anyway. The contractor must also prove that he gave notice.
law
Four Everyday Duties to Report
Four everyday rules use the same word, unverzüglich, without culpable delay.
An employee who is sick must tell the employer unverzüglich that he cannot work and how long he expects to be away. If the illness lasts more than three calendar days, he must present a doctor’s certificate on the next working day at the latest (§ 5 EntgFG).
A tenant who finds a defect in the apartment must report it to the landlord unverzüglich. A tenant who does not report it must pay for the damage that follows (§ 536c BGB).
An employee who notices an immediate, serious danger to safety and health, or a defect in a protective system, must report it unverzüglich to the employer or the responsible supervisor (§ 16 ArbSchG).
A student who misses an exam because of illness must hand in a withdrawal and a medical certificate unverzüglich. At the University of Duisburg-Essen, a withdrawal within three days of the missed exam, not counting Sundays and holidays, usually still counts as unverzüglich. If the reason is not accepted, the exam is graded nicht ausreichend (5,0), a fail.
The Soldier’s Duty of Truth
§ 13 of the German Soldiers’ Act begins with one sentence: Der Soldat muss in dienstlichen Angelegenheiten die Wahrheit sagen. (In matters of service, the soldier must tell the truth.) The second paragraph sets a limit on the duty to report. A report, a Meldung, may be demanded only when the service justifies it.
Coming Forward Too Late
German tax law gives immunity from punishment to a tax evader who corrects his tax returns in a Selbstanzeige, a self-disclosure. The immunity does not apply if the offense had already been discovered, in whole or in part, at that time, and the offender knew this or should have expected it (§ 371 AO). On 15 January 2013, his bank called Uli Hoeneß, the president of Bayern Munich, after a reporter from the magazine Stern had been asking questions at the bank. Early on 17 January 2013 he filed a self-disclosure. The tax office found that it was not a vollständige und einwandfreie Selbstanzeige, a complete and correct self-disclosure, and the court ruled it invalid. He was sentenced to three years and six months in prison for evading 28.5 million euros in tax. Hoeneß had said he filed on 12 January. That date later turned out to be untrue.
Coded Praise in the Work Reference
Every German employee who leaves a job has a legal right to a written reference, the Arbeitszeugnis. The law says it must be clear and easy to understand. In practice, set phrases carry the grade. Stets zu unserer vollsten Zufriedenheit, always to our fullest satisfaction, means very good. In 2014 the Federal Labor Court ruled that zur vollen Zufriedenheit, to full satisfaction, counts only as befriedigend, a middle grade. An employee who wants a better grade must prove that he earned it.
The same ruling quotes legal commentators. When 86.6 percent of references rate performance as good or very good, they write, a reference no longer says anything about what the employee can actually do. The ruling does not name the study behind the figure.
No Punishment Without Guilt
German criminal law rests on the principle keine Strafe ohne Schuld, no punishment without guilt. Section 46 of the Criminal Code begins: Die Schuld des Täters ist Grundlage für die Zumessung der Strafe. The guilt of the offender is the basis for setting the sentence. A sentence is therefore measured against what this one person is to blame for, and not only against the harm that was done.
No Excuse for a Small Part
On 12 May 2011, a Munich court convicted John Demjanjuk, a former guard at the Sobibor extermination camp, of aiding and abetting the murder of 28,060 people. No single killing could be attributed to him personally. The court held that he had been part of the machinery of extermination. The verdict never became final because he died before the appeals were decided. On 15 July 2015, Oskar Gröning, called the bookkeeper of Auschwitz by the press, was sentenced to four years. The Federal Court of Justice upheld the verdict in 2016.
For Auschwitz, prosecutors had long needed proof of direct involvement in a killing. An investigation against Gröning in 1985 was dropped.
A Board Member Pays
After the Siemens corruption scandal, the company claimed damages from eleven former members of its management board for breaching their duties of organization and supervision. Ten of them settled out of court. Siemens sued former finance chief Heinz-Joachim Neubürger for 15 million euros. In December 2013 the court granted the claim. It based the ruling on the overall legal responsibility of every board member. The parties later settled for 2.5 million euros.
A Faster Fresh Start After Insolvency
For insolvency cases filed from 1 October 2020, Germany cut the time to discharge the remaining debts from six years to three. A person whose business or finances failed is free of the old debts sooner. The federal justice ministry described the goal as ein schnellerer Neuanfang, a faster new start.
The Duty to Disclose a Treatment Error
Since 26 February 2013, § 630c of the German Civil Code has required a doctor who sees signs of a treatment error to inform the patient. The duty applies when the patient asks, or when it is needed to protect the patient’s health. The next sentence protects the doctor. If the error was made by the doctor or a close relative, the disclosure may be used as evidence in criminal or administrative-fine proceedings only with the doctor’s consent.