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The Supreme Regional Court has overturned the verdict in the case against soccer star Boateng for bodily harm. In the first two instances he was sentenced to fines – in varying amounts. Why?
According to the Munich district court, Jerôme Boateng should pay a total of 1.8 million euros for bodily harm. In the second instance, the Munich regional court came up with a total fine of 1.2 million euros. At first glance you think: the regional court ruled more leniently. But the opposite is true. Even if the total amount is lower at the regional court, this sentence is harsher than at the district court. How can that be?
Number of “daily rates” is crucial
What is important is that when it comes to a fine, a court does not simply set a sum. According to the Criminal Code, it is determined based on so-called “daily rates”. Exactly how many daily rates the court will impose depends on the severity of the crime. The more there are, the more severely the court will punish the defendant. The number of daily rates is decisive for the severity of the punishment – not their amount.
The amount is calculated like this: At the beginning of a criminal trial, the court asks about the defendant’s income. The income per day is then calculated from the net monthly income. For example, if the defendant has a monthly income of 3,000 euros, the daily rate is 100 euros. According to the law, a daily rate can be between one and 30,000 euros. So there is an upper limit.
That’s why it’s shortened if you only mention the total amount of a fine. Because the income levels of defendants vary greatly, it is not possible to determine how severe the punishment imposed is. For example: The total amount of a fine is 30,000 euros. If the defendant had an income of 100 euros per day, he was sentenced to 300 daily rates. This is a harsh punishment. But if he has a very high income of 3,000 euros per day, the daily rate is only ten – and therefore a rather mild punishment.
Lower sum, but higher penalty
Now to the Boateng case: In 2021, he was sentenced by the Munich District Court to a total fine of 1.8 million euros for bodily harm. It was made up of 60 daily rates of 30,000 euros. In the second instance, the Munich Regional Court set the fine in November 2022 at 120 daily rates of 10,000 each, a total of 1.2 million euros.
The regional court has therefore significantly reduced the amount of the daily rate. So something seems to have changed in the income situation. What’s even more important from a legal point of view is that even if the total amount is lower in the second instance, the punishment is still harsher. The number of daily rates is decisive for the amount of the penalty. And it has doubled from 60 to 120.
The regional court imposed a significantly harsher sentence than the district court. This has an impact, because if you receive a fine of more than 90 daily rates, you are considered to have a “previous conviction”.
Judgment will be reviewed for legal errors
In the appeal, the Bavarian Supreme Regional Court has now referred the proceedings to another chamber of the Munich Regional Court. Revision means that the written judgment of the lower court is checked for legal errors. Now the process must be reopened at the regional court.