In brief

With a dismissal under Section 153a StPO the accused pays a sum or performs another condition, and the case is then closed. No judgment, no criminal record, no entry on the certificate of conduct. For many clients this is the best realistic outcome.

Section 153a(1) StPO allows the prosecutor, for a less serious offence, to refrain provisionally from charging and to impose conditions or directions. The statute lists compensation, payment to a charity or the state treasury, community service, maintenance payments, victim-offender mediation, a social skills course, a driver improvement or aptitude seminar and a therapy direction, among others. The conditions must remove the public interest in prosecution, and the degree of culpability must not stand in the way.

The accused and, apart from trivial cases, the court must agree. The period for compliance is at most six months, one year for maintenance, training and therapy conditions. After charges have been filed, the court itself may discontinue under Section 153a(2) StPO.

What it means and what it does not

It is not an admission of guilt. The presumption of innocence remains. There is no judgment and no entry in the Federal Central Criminal Register, so no issue with the certificate of conduct. The dismissal is recorded in the prosecutors’ procedural register, to which only judicial authorities have access, and is deleted from it after a set period. For naturalisation or residence status it is as a rule harmless.

Once the conditions are fulfilled, the act can no longer be prosecuted as a less serious offence. The costs of the proceedings are borne by the state; the accused bears their own legal fees (Section 467(5) StPO).

How to get there

Rarely on its own. The prosecutor offers a dismissal where there are doubts about the evidence or the offence is seen at the lower end, and that is exactly what must be shown after access to the file. When setting the payment, prosecutors often roughly follow the fine that a conviction would bring. That too can be negotiated, with reference to income and compensation.

In detail: discontinuation of proceedings.

General explanation, not advice on an individual case. As of November 2026.