Adult Prison Law in Germany: Analysis of State Laws in the Light of the Federal Law of 1976 and German Federal Constitutional Court’s (BVerfG) Case Law

The article examines some of the legislative changes of the 2006 reform of adult prisons Law in Germany. The 2006 reform gave the Länder competence to regulate the execution of the prison sentence, generating a wave of new prison laws in the country. This article examines whether the new legislation regarding the adult prison sentences reflects the lineages of the federal law of 1976 and the case law standards of the BVerfG in this area. The aim is to know the issues where the criteria of federal law and BVerfG’s case-law influence state legislation, on the other hand, the issues where state laws have innovated. At the same time, it also intends to make a critical analysis of whether the adherence or innovation of state laws signifies an advance with respect to previous regulations.