Germanโ Court Rules Data Check โขNot Enough toโ Prove Theft in Mobile Phone Case
ESSEN,GERMANY – Germany’s Federal โCourt of Justice โค(BGH) overturned aโฃ guilty verdict in a mobile phone robbery case,ruling that simply plugging a phone into a jacketโ pocket for a dataโข check does not automatically demonstrate intent to steal.The decision, publishedโ August 13th, sends the case back to a youth chamber of the Essen Regional Court forโฃ renegotiation.
The โruling โclarifies a critical distinction between punishable theft andโ actions that, while possibly involving data โaccess, do not meet the legalโ threshold for appropriation. Thisโ case highlights the โincreasing legal complexitiesโฃ surroundingโ data privacyโ and โaccess in the context โof theft, impacting โhowโข similar cases are prosecuted and potentially โคinfluencingโฃ future legislation regarding data offenses. Criminal lawyer Jens further emphasized โขthe central importance of proving intent to โขpermanently deprive the โฃowner โof their property.
The โคoriginal case hinged on whether โthe act of connecting the โphone โขto check dataโ constituted an intention toโ appropriate the device. The regional court initially ruled thatโค the connection implied such intent. However, the BGH disagreed, stating that the actionโ could โขalso be interpreted as a short-term backup for dataโข verification, and without further evidence โof a broader intent to โsteal, the guilty verdict wasโค not justified.
The BGH decision also notedโฃ that while data deletion could, in some cases, justify an appropriationโฃ charge, the current evidence did not support that claim. โThe court stipulated that data offenses must be โevaluated โseparately.
