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Tatbestand

constituent elements of an offence, facts of a case

noun TAT-be-shtant Rare

Usage Note

Tatbestand is the set of legally defined elements that must be fulfilled for a criminal offence to exist; den Tatbestand erfüllen (to fulfil the elements of the offence) is a key phrase in German criminal law.

Examples

"Der Richter prüfte, ob der Tatbestand des Betrugs erfüllt war."

Natural Translation

The judge examined whether the constituent elements of fraud were met.

Literal Translation

The judge examined whether the offence-elements of fraud fulfilled were.

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