German Term
 

Is Durchsuchungsbeschluss in German the equal of search warrant in the USA? That is, does it gives legal authority for a thorough search of one's home or possessions by representatives of a law enforcement agency because criminal evidence is being sought?

Bob, <BR>What have you been up to, you devil, you!

Hi Bob, <BR>yes, you`re right, that`s the word for it. In Germany no one has the right to enter your apartment without having a "Durchsuchungsbeschluss". But that, of course, doesn`t apply to a search through your possessions when going through costums. <BR> <BR>Regards <BR>Miriam

Thanks Miriam for the explanation and clarification. I concluded that was what it meant from the context where I read the term, but I was not sure. It was not customs related as I will soon discuss. <BR> <BR>Not to worry Wes. I am not in trouble with the head German Mounty because I have not budged out of Athens and Atlanta since October except to visit with my cousin in St. Pete so we could watch the Outback Bowl. And we did go to Tuscaloosa to help an old friend who had her knee replaced. (She is doing well.) <BR>What brought the subject up is the political money scandal in Germany that has deeply implicated Helmut Kohl, the former chancellor and leading member of the CDU political party. The same disturbance has also forced a high ranking political figure named Wolfgang Schaeuble to yield under heavy pressure and step down. Schaeuble had the held the position of CDU Partei- und Unionsfraktionschef. The use of the term Durchsuchungsbeschluss came up in a German news brief about searching Kohl's home. I figured it had to do with obtaining authority to conduct a search, but I wasn't sure and I could not find it in even a big Oxford German-English dictionary. Earlier, I had read where Kohl would not be prosecuted, but when various people start talking about search warrants, I think the situation is not yet over. This isn't a political forum, but political stress in any of the nations that many Forum readers visit is of interest and potential concern.

Hi Bob, <BR>interesting that you follow what`s going on here right now. Yes, Kohl seemed to be somehow "untouchable" for a long time. But since things are going worse and everybody from the CDU party seem to be entangled in that scandal his reputation is falling to pieces. Everybody now wants to know the whole truth. <BR> <BR>Kind regards <BR> <BR>Miriam

Dear Bob, <BR>I have been "off" this forum for about a year, since I returned from a trip to Europe last spring. I'm now preparing for a march trip to Paris (a surprise birthday gift from my husband) so I've dropped back in to see what's up. Reading your question--and the reason behind it--reminds me why I love this website! By and large, it's intelligent, thoughtful world citizens like yourself that are the resident experts here. I appreciate the high quality of information on this site and always recommend it to friends planning trips. The only downside to this site is that it can become habit forming!

The usual term for a search warrant is 'Durchsuchungsbefehl', which is why your and my dictionary (Pons) do not list 'Durchsuchungsbeschluss'. There MAY be a distinction in meaning in that 'Beschluss' means (court) decision or finding (that a search may legally be carried out), whereas 'Befehl' is an order (for this decision or finding to be put into effect). <BR>

Hi Miriam. I have tried for years to learn German. I subscribe to a free news brief service that comes over Internet automatically to my email account. Usually the articles are digests, but they are well written, if a little terse at times. <BR>The vocabulary seems equal to that of the Frankfurter Allgemine Zeitschrift (hope I got that right) so it often stretches my abilities. As a result, I end up flipping pages in the dictionary and trying to figure out meanings by looking up the word parts when the full term is missing. Just recently I found an on line German - English vocabulary helper that is a little quicker to use than the printed versions. <BR>Unfortunately, I don't seem to have great talent for learning languages. I started late in life and the natural aptitude just does not seem to be there. <BR>Also, I find it very discouraging to be roundly belittled by fluent German speakers when I make errors in the use of the language. Many of them seem arrogant to the point that they insist on using their English, which is often not very good either. <BR>Even so, I continue to try because understanding a little German helps when travelling in Switzerland, the south Tyrol area of northern Italy, and Austria as well as Germany. <BR>I find it interesting that my limited abilities in German are much more useful in the French speaking part of Switzerland than elsewhere. Perhaps it is be because the people there are friendly and don't seem to be overly critical of someone who doesn't command German with native fluency. Also, I find that I can understand them better than I can the native Swiss German speakers. Last year in Zinal, a young man, perhaps 20, in the tourist office spoke no English. So we communicated adequately in German. I was told that the French speaking Swiss learn high German pronunciation in school. Therefore, their accents are closer to the sounds I hear on language recordings.

Hi Bob, <BR>don`t worry if you don`t understand everything or little in an article written in the "Frankfurter Allgemeine" style. It´s a very sophisticated newspaper who`s proud of the fact, that even well educuated Germans have to look up some of the words to understand the context. Their authors´ aim is to express very simple things in the most complicated way to graduate fom the "normal people". So-don`t care... <BR>I don`t think that German native speakers don`t want to speak English to you, because they`re arrogant or your German is bad. As I know from myself-everybody here is eager to speak English, that`s the reason. A lot of people learned it in school and now in their job have little chance to practise it and when they meet English or American people they want to use that opportunity and they`re ignoring the fact that those people might want to practise their German, as well. I wouldn`t take that personally. <BR> <BR>Kind regards <BR> <BR>Miriam

Hi Miriam. Communicate with me directly on the subject of your last post for me. I don't want to say any more here.