The claim

There is an allegation that there is a law in Germany that punishes detonating an atomic bomb with only 5 years in prison.

Our conclusion

Yes, the law actually exists!
It criminalizes the detonation of an atomic bomb in Germany and makes a legally correct distinction as to whether people died or property was damaged.

We are always surprised by strangely weird laws in the USA. This time, while searching for a specific paragraph, I came across a somewhat bizarre legal norm regarding atomic bombs, which had already been brought to my attention in a discussion with lawyers.

Nuclear explosions are the most powerful man-made explosions. In the simplest case, they are triggered by the ignition of a nuclear fission bomb. The explosion occurs immediately after a critical mass is exceeded due to a nuclear chain reaction. An above-ground detonation in the air produces the typical explosion clouds, the fireball, a pressure wave and radioactive residue.

An atomic bomb explosion has a significantly greater amount of energy and much higher temperatures compared to conventional explosions. Chemical explosions have temperatures of up to a few thousand degrees, while nuclear explosions reach temperatures of over 100 million degrees.

The increase in atmospheric radioactivity from nuclear weapons testing led to the 1963 Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapons Testing in the Atmosphere, Space and Underwater. Since then, test explosions by the contracting parties have always taken place underground.

Nevertheless, there is a paragraph in German criminal law regarding causing an explosion through nuclear energy , as there are no separate regulations in the Atomic Energy Act for detonating an atomic bomb. The offense was included in Section 307 of the Criminal Code and contains different offenses.

The wording:

(1) Anyone who undertakes to cause an explosion by releasing nuclear energy and thereby endangering the life or limb of another person or other people's property of significant value shall be punished with a prison sentence of not less than five years.

(2) Anyone who causes an explosion by releasing nuclear energy and thereby negligently endangers the life or limb of another person or other people's property of significant value will be punished with a prison sentence of one to ten years.

(3) If the perpetrator at least carelessly causes the death of another person through the act, the punishment is 1. in the cases referred to in paragraph 1, life imprisonment or a prison sentence of not less than ten years,2.

in the cases referred to in paragraph 2, a prison sentence of not less than five years. (4) Anyone who acts negligently in the cases referred to in paragraph 2 and negligently causes the danger will be punished with a prison sentence of up to three years or a fine.

The offense is considered complete even at the experimental stage. Paragraph 1 of the regulation already applies when a perpetrator sets out to carry out the crime. The particular risk situation explains the significant penalty of at least five years in prison.

However, anyone who endangers at least one person or property with a nuclear explosion can be punished with up to 10 years in prison. Life imprisonment can be imposed if at least one person dies in a nuclear explosion. The punishment can be mitigated through active remorse; to do this, the perpetrator must give up the crime or avert the danger in such a way that no significant damage occurs.

Why does this law exist?

The question still arises as to why such a law exists and how it came about. In Germany, everything has to be justiciable. This means that even an atomic bomb explosion in Germany cannot go unpunished.

You could also ask yourself how and where you can detonate an atomic bomb in Germany, which is quite densely populated, without harming a person or property and thus paragraph 1 comes into play. Or how negligent ignition differs from non-negligent ignition.

Oh yes.
Germany has no nuclear weapons of its own. It will also be difficult to get the material for a nuclear bomb.

By the way: In Chico, California, the city council only wanted to impose a fine of $500 if you detonate a nuclear weapon within the city. – This brings us full circle to the sometimes surprising laws in the USA.

Sources: Criminal Code , Atomic Energy Act , academic.com , Chico (USA )

This might also be of interest: Fake vaccination certificate: 18,000 euros fine


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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )