Das Unrecht der privaten Korruption im geschäftlichen Verkehr

The book examines the legal wrong of commercial bribery. Three central dogmatic and criminal-political issues of the reformed § 299 StGB are scrutinised, namely the criminal liability of the business owner de lege ferenda, the relevance of the principal's consent and the assessment of combined cases of third party advantages in favour of the principal. The unsatisfactory handling of these issues – especially by the prevailing opinion in case law and in literature – is seen as a symptom of a still-missing correct concept for the legal wrong of private corruption. After a critical analysis of traditional approaches, in particular of the prevailing “competition model”, a new approach is developed. This is done on the basis of the concept of corruption, which is characterised by the principal-agent approach, and of the normative foundations of a liberal criminal law. The legal wrong of private corruption is then seen as affecting the economic freedom or the freedom of competition of the entre-preneur (business owner). Finally, the consequences de lege lata and de lege ferenda of this reorientation for the interpretation and application of § 299 StGB are outlined.