Die Vorschrift des § 90a StGB

As a result of the Böhmermann affair, the so-called "political criminal law" became in the centre of social and media attention. The provision of § 103 German Criminal Code – designated as the "lèse-majesté paragraph" - was removed on 01.01.2018. This ended the debate, even though there are other norms that are considered to be part of political criminal law. This includes the provision of § 90a German Criminal Code – "state defamation". Far from the often-cited argument that such norms are no longer up-to-date, this work examines the legitimacy of § 90a from the point of view of the doctrine of legal interests. The author analyses the conception of the norm and explains to what extent criminal behaviour can lead to an impairment of the protected legal interests. The work intends to contribute to the scientific analysis of state defamation.