(1) Unless otherwise provided by the present Act, the provisions of general statutes concerning criminal proceedings, particularly those of the Code of Criminal Procedure, of the Courts Constitution Act and of the Youth Courts Act, apply to the regulatory fining proceedings accordingly.
(2) Unless otherwise provided by the present Act, the prosecuting authority has the same rights and obligations in the regulatory fining proceedings as the public prosecution office when prosecuting criminal offences.
(3) Committal to an institution, apprehension, and provisional detention, confiscation of postal items and telegrams, as well as requests for information regarding matters that are subject to post and telecommunications secrecy, are not permissible. Section 160 (3) sentence 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure concerning the court assistance agency does not apply. Proceedings to compel public charges do not take place. The provisions concerning participation of the aggrieved person in the proceedings, and on the national register of proceedings conducted by the public prosecution offices, do not apply; this does not apply to section 406e of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
(4) Section 81a (1) sentence 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure applies with the restriction that only the taking of blood samples and other minor interventions are permissible. In derogation from section 81a (2) sentence 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the taking of a blood sample does not require a court order if specific facts justify the suspicion that a regulatory offence has been committed
1. in accordance with sections 24a and 24c of the Road Traffic Act (Straßenverkehrsgesetz), or
2. in accordance with section 7 (1) of the Act on Tasks in Inland Waterways (Binnenschifffahrtsaufgabengesetz), in conjunction with a provision contained in a statutory instrument issued on the basis of section 3 (1) sentence 1 number 1 of the Act on Tasks in Inland Waterways, insofar as such provision regulates behaviour in traffic within the meaning of section 3 (1) sentence 1 number 1 (a) (aa) of the Act on Tasks in Inland Waterways.
Blood samples and other body cells taken in criminal proceedings, the taking of which would have been permissible in regulatory fining proceedings in accordance with sentence 1, may be used. Use of blood samples and other body cells for the purpose of conducting an examination within the meaning of section 81e of the Code of Criminal Procedure is inadmissible.
(4a) Section 100j (1) sentence 1 number 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, also in conjunction with section 100j (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, applies with the restriction that the collection of subscriber information is only permissible in order to prosecute regulatory offences on which regulatory fines of a maximum of more than fifteen thousand euros are imposable on natural persons.
(5) The order to bring the person concerned, and any witness who fails to comply with a summons, before the prosecuting authority is only made by the judge. Detention ordered to force the witness to testify (section 70 (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure) may not exceed six weeks.
(6) In proceedings against juveniles and adolescents, recourse to the services of the youth court assistance agency (section 38 of the Youth Courts Act) may be dispensed with if their participation is not necessary for the proper conduct of the proceedings.
(7) In court proceedings, the decision is given by divisions for regulatory fining matters at the local court, by chambers for regulatory fining matters at the regional court, and by panels for regulatory fining matters at the higher regional court, as well as at the Federal Court of Justice.
(8) The provisions relating to the implementation of section 191a (1) sentences 1 to 4 of the Courts Constitution Act in the regulatory fining proceedings are determined in the statutory instrument in accordance with section 191a (2) of the Courts Constitution Act.