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The Prostitution Act (Prostitutionsgesetz - ProstG) is a federal law in
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
that regulates the legal status of prostitution as a service in order to improve the legal and social situation of prostitutes. The law was
promulgate Promulgation is the formal proclamation or the declaration that a new statutory or administrative law is enacted after its final approval. In some jurisdictions, this additional step is necessary before the law can take effect. After a new law ...
d on 20 December 2001 and has been in force since 1 January 2002. At the same time the
Strafgesetzbuch ''Strafgesetzbuch'' (), abbreviated to ''StGB'', is the German penal code. History In Germany the ''Strafgesetzbuch'' goes back to the Penal Code of the German Empire passed in the year 1871 on May 15 in Reichstag which was largely identi ...
(Criminal Code) §180a (exploitation of prostitutes) and §181a (
pimp Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term pimp has still ...
ing) were amended so that the creation of an adequate working environment is no longer punishable as long as no exploitation of prostitutes takes place. Sexual acts in the context of a prostitution contract are now valid to establish claims for compensation since the law came into force. This has not only significance for
civil law Civil law may refer to: * Civil law (common law), the part of law that concerns private citizens and legal persons * Civil law (legal system), or continental law, a legal system originating in continental Europe and based on Roman law ** Private la ...
, but also criminal law (property offences). In addition, prostitutes can now regularly insure in the statutory health, unemployment and pension insurance.


Construction and content


Legal Development

Prior to the entry into force of the Prostitution Act, contracts for sexual services were generally regarded as immoral within the meaning of Section 138(1) of the BGB (
civil code A civil code is a codification of private law relating to property, family, and obligations. A jurisdiction that has a civil code generally also has a code of civil procedure. In some jurisdictions with a civil code, a number of the core ...
). The legal consequence of immorality was the nullity of the contract. Therefore, neither a claim of the customer for the provision of the service nor a claim of the prostitutes for the agreed consideration is valid. The result was the practice of prepayment; A refund of the fee was excluded in this case according to §817 sentence 2 BGB . According to the
Administrative court An administrative court is a type of court specializing in administrative law, particularly disputes concerning the exercise of public power. Their role is to ascertain that official acts are consistent with the law. Such courts are considered se ...
of
Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
, prostitution was no longer immoral even before the Prostitution Act: " ..the state obligation to protect human dignity (Article 1(1) sentence 2 GG) must not be misused to harm individuals through interference with protecting individual self-determination as it were from itself." The
European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ, french: Cour de Justice européenne), formally just the Court of Justice, is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Unio ...
has made it clear that prostitution is a gainful employment that is" part of the common economic life "within the meaning of Article 2 EC. Rulings on immorality, however, have not been passed in civil law, due to doubts about enforceability, compensation for bad performance, etc. This civil-law assessment also had an impact on the concept of criminal law and thus, in particular, on fraud, which requires financial loss. If the work of the prostitutes could not justify a claim, it did not belong to the criminally protected assets. Anyone who used sexual services and thus fooled about his willingness to pay, committed no fraud for lack of financial loss. The Federal Court accepts this principle. On the other hand, the prostitute, who accepts money and misleads the customer about their willingness to provide sexual services, commits a fraud, as the customer's "good money" was, in the vast majority of view, despite the immoral purpose of the client's protected assets. This legal position was judged by the legislature to be in need of reform. The legislative procedure was initiated in May 2001 and included several expert hearings. In addition to the factions of the government parties
SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...
and Greens, the opposition factions of the FDP and the
PDS PD, P.D., or Pd may refer to: Arts and media * ''People's Democracy'' (newspaper), weekly organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) * ''The Plain Dealer'', a Cleveland, Ohio, US newspaper * Post Diaspora, a time frame in the '' Honorverse' ...
voted in favour of the bill introduced by the government on 19 October 2001 in the Bundestag. Only the CDU/
CSU CSU may refer to: * Channel service unit, a Wide area network equivalent of a network interface card * Chari Aviation Services, Chad, by ICAO airline code * Christian Social Union (UK), an Anglican social gospel organisation * Christian Social ...
faction opposed the law.


Regulatory content

§1 states that after the provision of sexual services, the provider is entitled to payment of the promised consideration. It clarifies that the customer does not have a claim for the performance of the service, or that the provision of the service is enforceable. As judgements on the establishment of marital union are not enforceable, (§120 paragraph 3 FamFG), enforcement would be inconsistent and possibly unconstitutional as a violation of Art. 1 GG (respect for
human dignity Dignity is the right of a person to be valued and respected for their own sake, and to be treated ethically. It is of significance in morality, ethics, law and politics as an extension of the Enlightenment-era concepts of inherent, inaliena ...
). §2 of the law ensures that the objection of immorality is excluded because of the nature of the service. It should not be required in court to prove the quality of the services provided. However, other circumstances, such as inability to work and probably also immorality because of usury are not excluded. In addition, the payment claim can not be assigned. Beyond the wording, the claim also can not be asserted by means of the power of attorney or process status, although substitution (acting in a foreign name) remains possible. This makes trading in such claims impossible. In §3 the conditions for admission to social security are created. The enforceability of fees in practice is of little importance, since payment is almost always made in advance. The advertising ban for sexual services (Section 119 OWiG) was not repealed by the Prostitution Act. The offence (Section 120 OWiG) and the offence (Section 184d StGB) of prohibited prostitution, i.e. the infringement of a restricted area decree issued on the basis of Article 297 of the CCAIL, also remained unchanged.


Criticism

It is argued that the formulation that "further objections and objections are excluded" has gone too far and requires a teleological reduction. For even the inability to work, in particular the minority of the customer, is a (legal obstacle) objection, which should be excluded according to the wording. It could not be intended by the legislature that, for example, the minor, who can not conclude effective contracts for the acquisition of everyday objects, can now justify effective compensation claims for sexual services. Since human dignity, as the highest constitutional value (Article 1 of the Basic Law), is not at the discretion of the state, or even by law, prostitution, according to some lawyers, continues to be immoral. In particular, it argues that § 2 ProstG only excludes the objection of immorality and § 1 speaks only of a "legally effective demand", however, does not order positively that the contract is not immoral or even effective. Also, the lack of enforceability of sexual performance shows clearly that it is still not a normal contract. However, the legal relationships are finally regulated by the Prostitution Act. Although § 180a StGB criminalises the "exploitation of prostitutes", the paragraph is rarely used, as both economic dependence and personal dependence are difficult to prove. A conviction in criminal proceedings is unlikely without the statement of those affected. The magazine '' EMMA'', which holds a critical view on prostitution in general, claims the Prostitution Act promotes forced prostitution. The
Federal Social Court The Federal Social Court (''Bundessozialgericht'') is the German federal court of appeals for social security cases, mainly cases concerning the public health insurance, long-term care insurance, pension insurance and occupational accident ins ...
found, in a judgment of 6 May 2009, that the Prostitution Act was enacted to protect employees and not to promote business. A brothel operator can not demand the placement of prostitutes by the Federal Employment Agency.


Amendment

In the coalition agreement negotiated by the CDU, CSU and SPD after the 2013 general election, a "comprehensive revision" of the Prostitution Act was announced. In this context, the legal basis for the control of prostitution sites by the regulatory authorities should be improved. In the same section of the coalition agreement, albeit without a direct legal link to the Prostitution Act, the governing parties also announced measures against
forced prostitution Forced prostitution, also known as involuntary prostitution or compulsory prostitution, is prostitution or sexual slavery that takes place as a result of coercion by a third party. The terms "forced prostitution" or "enforced prostitution" appea ...
and
trafficking Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are variou ...
. Thus, the victims should be better protected and corresponding offenders punished more consistently. In the future, action should also be taken against people "who knowingly and wilfully exploit the predicament of victims of trafficking and forced prostitution and abuse them for sexual acts". In September 2016, the Prostitute Protection Act was passed, which introduced a compulsory registration for prostitutes, a compulsory permit for the prostitution industry and other regulations, such as regular, compulsory health advice and use of
condoms A condom is a sheath-shaped Barrier contraception, barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a Sexually transmitted disease, sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both male and female con ...
.


See also

*
Prostitution in Germany Prostitution in Germany is legal, as are other aspects of the sex industry, including brothels, advertisement, and job offers through HR companies. Full-service sex work is widespread and regulated by the German government, which levies taxes o ...


References


Further reading

* * * {{Authority control Prostitution law in Germany