RA Detlev Stoffels
RAe Kattelmann Gelhard Stoffels and Süsselbeck
Auf der Töterlöh 44
D-33100 Paderborn
Tel.: +49 (5251)529944
Fax: +49 (5251)529946
Mobil: +49 (172)51 666 07
d@to44.de
www.to44.de
 

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Cross Border Defence is the term used for defending clients outside German jurisdiction and outside the borders of the Federal Republic of Germany.

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 as they can. However, their activities are governed by restrictions of 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. 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 country. 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 personally and respect professionally – because we cooperated with them in the past or because personal contact at the International Criminal Bar or the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
 
So far, we defended Cross Border Defence clients in France, Greece, Cambodia, Austria, the Philippines, Spain and the U.S.A.