German Lawyer Provides Legal Information On Dark Net Drug Orders

Lawyer Philipp Rinklin, who is specialized in criminal law, provided legal information in cases where the defendants have ordered narcotics from the dark web.

“Mr. Philipp Rinklin can also support you as an expert in criminal law competently and expertly – because it is your guaranteed basic right to be represented as a defendant in a criminal case represented by a defense counsel,” a website section dedicated to the lawyer goes by on the German news outlet anwalt.de.

Rinklin, whose office is based in Freiburg, Germany, where drug-related crimes are on the rise, says that cases in which the accused is charged with the unlawful acquisition of narcotics via the dark web are on the rise. In these cases, the lawyer advises people to consult the investigations before submitting an application. The accused is therefore advised not to make a statement in the context of an interrogation with the police.

Frequently, it is very difficult to prove that the defendant committed a criminal offense on the basis of the available evidence, if, for example, there are no documents at the post office regarding the delivery of the consignment, Rinklin explained. On the other hand, in most cases, law enforcement authorities could easily determine who ordered the narcotics. In addition, the ordered drug has often not been secured by the customers, the lawyer added.

Moreover, the legal situation is also complex because, in the case of the acquisition of narcotics, the border is limited from criminal penalties to criminal investigations only when, according to the offense, the conclusion of the transaction takes place directly in the transfer to the disposition of the narcotics, Rinklin added. The commitment of a consumer without a transaction is a mere preparation for the acquisition and not yet an attempt. The mere appointment of drugs may therefore not constitute a criminal offense at all.

According to the lawyer, it still remains unclear whether it can be shown at all by the available evidence that the drugs ordered were actually shipped and delivered. Rinklin said it is doubtful whether the limit for a criminal trial or an accomplished fact, was even exceeded. To this extent, it can’t be ruled out that there has been no shipment of the ordered narcotics.

If the defendant disputes the use of dark web, which was used to order the narcotics or does not provide any information on the matter, a conviction with the available evidence is usually not probable since ultimately it can’t be ruled out that another person with or without knowledge of the accused ordered the drugs and provided his address for the deliveries.

The lawyer also provided an example for such cases. According to him, in an instance where the drug were ordered from the dark web and shipped to the customer, the opening of the main proceedings was rejected by the District Court of Freiburg in proceedings 28 Ds 620 JS 19369/16 by resolution of 10.03.2017 in the absence of sufficient suspicion of the crime under Section 204 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.