RA Detlev Stoffels
RAe Kattelmann Gelhard Stoffels Süsselbeck Niermann
Auf der Töterlöh 44
D-33100 Paderborn
Tel.: +49 (5251)529944
Fax: +49 (5251)529946
Mobil: +49 (172)51 666 07
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www.toeterloeh44.de

According to statistics of the German Foreign Office, more than 1,500 German nationals were detained abroad in 2005. The German embassies assist as best they can. However, their activities are governed by the Consular Act

 

Criminal proceedings against German nationals abroad, in particular, if imprisonment is involved, create an extraordinary stress situation for the affected person: conditions in prison are mostly poor, in some cases even life-threatening; the imprisoned person and the persons with whom he relates find it difficult to build defence actively due to language problems and the unknown legal system; besides, the rule of law is not always dominating in other countries the way we know it from the Federal Republic of Germany

 

If we have a Cross Border Defence client, we will build a defence in the respective country together with national colleagues and their employees. We maintain constant close contact with the national colleagues, discuss the case with them and evaluate strategies in the light of the conditions in the target county. We also maintain the flow of information between the client in prison and his relatives. If requested and if possible, we will take over the defence in the target country with assistance of a national defence counsel.

 

When building the team for the defence, we often can involve colleagues whom we know and personally and respect professionally – because we cooperated with them in the past or because personal contact and meetings at the International Criminal Bar in The Hague have built a relation of trust.

 

So far, we defended Cross Border Defence clients in France, Greece, Cambodia, Austria, the Philippines, Spain and the U.S.A.