Timing of crediting unrelated pretrial detention to criminal sentence: execution vs. appellate review

The Federal Court of Justice’s 6th Criminal Senate dismissed the defendant’s appeal as unfounded, upholding the Landgericht Neuruppin’s judgment of 20 January 2023 and ordering the defendant to bear the costs of the legal remedy. The dispute concerned the procedural handling of the conviction, with the focus specifically on the crediting of pretrial detention from unrelated proceedings (verfahrensfremde Untersuchungshaft). The court determined that the issue of crediting such detention under § 51 of the German Criminal Code is not a matter for the appellate judgment but must be decided during the execution of the sentence (Vollstreckungsverfahren), citing established case law and standard commentaries on § 51 StGB.