»Einheitstäterschaft« statt Tatherrschaft

German criminal law distinguishes between various forms of participation in the perpetration of an offence. Whereas the individual forms of the perpetration of an offence have been standardized in section 25 of the German Penal Code, the participation has been regulated in section 26 (instigation) and section 27 (aiding and abetting a crime). Thomas Rotsch begins with the insight that up to now there has not been a convincing definition of these forms of participation. In order to transcend the classic system of single offenders, he makes the first attempt to create a basis for a normative-functional theory of criminal offences which does not require any terminological or subject-related differentiation.