Although the idea that offenders suffering from a mental disorder must primarily be considered as ill and should therefore be exempted from punishment is of considerable antiquity legal frameworks and key concepts, which are applied in this field, differ widely in European Union member States. The respective legal regulations and epidemiological data of Germany will be presented.

In German penal law the question of the guilt of an offender is of central significance. Legal regulations on the placement and treatment of mentally ill offenders in a forensic psychiatric hospital are subsumed under the section “Measures on improvement and safety”. Section 63 of the German penal law provides for the temporally unlimited commitment to a forensic- psychiatric hospital.

In accordance with section 64 of the German penal law addicted offenders can be committed to a detoxification center for a period of up to two years. The available epidemiological data show a clear increase in the admissions to forensic psychiatric hospitals and to detoxification centers since beginnings of the 1990s. Recently the German parliament passed a new law. The aim of the new law is to strengthen patients’ rights and to diminish the number of forensic patients.