Das strafrechtliche Bestimmtheitsgebot und Mengenbegriffe

The relevance of the principle of legal certainty is growing steadily. Time and again, certain interpretations of criminal law terms are rejected due to this principle as too far-reaching; even entire regulations are rejected as unconstitutional. So far, however, the compatibility of purely quantitative terms such as "great extent" or "significant value" with the principle has scarcely been elucidated, although it is precisely here that an absolute certainty could be achieved using concrete values. The present publication highlights the difficulties and contradictions in the interpretation of these terms and addresses the question of their constitutional conformity. As a central criterion, the jurisprudence of the German Federal Constitutional Court on the presumption of conformity in general is used and subjected to extensive analysis in the first part of the work. Taking into account different forms of analysis – among others, systematic, comparative and empirical analysis – the author arrives at differentiated conclusions concerning the quantitative concepts. These conclusions highlight the need for legislative action in this area.