La provocación del delito contraria al Estado de Derecho y sus consecuencias jurídicas

Abstract

The introduction of undercover agents in criminal prosecution has given rise to many discussions about the legality and general admissibility of their operation. It is therefore pertinent to discuss the conditions under which infiltration is permitted and the extent of its power in determining a suspect’s involvement. Various legal consequences may be derived from the illegality of the provocation to the act, ranging from the consideration of sentence reduction in its very measurement, through the denial of evidentiary assessment up to procedural impediments or personal reasons for penalty exemption. These are all properly addressed in this paper, which deals with the issue from the perspective of European courts and, particularly, German courts.