Home | Lawyers | Dr. Oliver Pragal, LL.M. (Cape ToWn)

Dr. Oliver Pragal,
LL.M. (Cape ToWn)

Dr. Oliver Pragal, LL.M. (Cape Town) has been admitted to the Hamburg Bar since 2007 and specialises in criminal law. „JUVE-magazine laudes Dr. Pragal for many years as professionally excellent, competent, and judicious.“

He has been authorised to carry the title “Specialist Lawyer for Criminal Law” since 2012. Dr. Pragal has been a member of the committee on criminal law of the Hanseatic Bar Association in Hamburg since 2013.

Dr. Pragal is particularly active in the field of commercial and tax criminal law, especially in complex and wide-ranging proceedings.

Beginning with his dissertation on the offence of bribery and corruption in business transactions (§ 299 StGB) at the Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, Pragal boasts over 20 years of expertise in the field of criminal law relating to corruption. This specialisation covers the offences of bribery and corruption in the health sector (§ 299a/b StGB). Dr. Pragal has published numerous articles on the subject.

In addition to defending individuals, Dr. Pragal is regularly hired as corporate defence counsel and as a criminal law advisor in compliance crises and internal investigations. He is co-author of the handbook “Richtiges Verhalten in der Compliance-Krise” [“Adequate management of the Compliance Crisis”] (1st edition 2023; ed.: Dr. Philipp Engelhoven).

This also increasingly concerns cross-border investigations involving foreign investigative authorities or the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO).

For the best possible handling of such proceedings, Dr. Pragal has a worldwide network of experienced and highly qualified colleagues in all important jurisdictions – the “Global Defence Alliance” of which he is a founding member – at his disposal.

CV

  • Lawyer since 2007
  • Specialist lawyer for criminal law since 2012
  • Co-founder / Managing Partner of the law firm Meyer-Lohkamp & Pragal (2010-2023)
  • Member of the technical committee on criminal law of the Hanseatic Bar Association in Hamburg since 2013
  • Co-founder and long-standing board member of the Institute for Compliance in medium-sized companies
  • Master’s degree in “Criminal Law” at the University of Cape Town (South Africa)
  • Research associate and doctoral student at the Bucerius Law School, Hamburg (2002-2005), dissertation on bribery and corruptibility in business transactions (§ 299 StGB)
  • University studies in law at the Christian Albrechts University in Kiel (1997-2001)

Publications (selection)

  • Pragal / Prinzenberg, Strafvereitelungsrisiken bei Internal Investigations, wistra 2023, S. 275 ff.
  • Pragal/Rhein, Zur Unwirksamkeit staatsanwaltschaftlicher Prozesshandlungen bei Verstößen gegen § 32b Abs. 3 S. 2 StPO, StV Spezial 2023, S. 132 ff.
  • Engelhoven/Pragal, Keine Schadensersatzhaftung des Organs für Kartellgeldbußen des Unternehmens (Anmerkung zu OLG Düsseldorf v. 27.7.2023 – VI-6 U 1/22), EwiR 2023, S. 551-553
  • „Richtiges Verhalten in der Compliance-Krise“ (1. Aufl. 2023; Hrsg.: Dr. Philipp Engelhoven): mehrere Kapitel u.a. zum Verhalten bei Durchsuchungen, Sofortmaßnahmen bei Entdeckung von Verstößen, Umgang mit dem Untersuchungsbericht, Strafrechtliche Bezüge von zivilrechtlichen Fragestellungen, strategischer Unternehmensverteidigung
  • „Umsatzabhängige Zuwendungen von Vorteilen an niedergelassene Vertragsärzte im Zusammenhang mit der Empfehlung von Nahrungsergänzungsmitteln (NEM) durch den Hersteller“, StraFo 6/2020, S. 253 ff.
  • Interview mit RA Dr. Pragal in der Zeitschrift des Freien Verbands Deutscher Zahnärzte e.V. 02/2015: „Antikorruptionsgesetz im Gesundheitswesen: Unter Generalverdacht – oder Imagepflege für den Berufsstand?“ PDF-Download
  • Streitgespräch „Pro & Contra Anti-Korruptionsgesetz“ im Hartmannbund-Magazin (01/2015) PDF-Download
  • Exit-Strategien bei Bestechungssystemen – ein Praxisbericht, in: Zeitschrift für Risk, Fraud & Compliance (ZRFC) 2010,
S. 275 ff. PDF-Download
  • „Die neuen §§ 20a ff. BKA-Gesetz“, 7. Streitgespräch des Bucerius Law Journals zwischen Michael Bruns, Bundesanwalt beim Bundesgerichtshof, und Dr. Pragal, verfügbar unter law-journal.de/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/BLJ_Ausgabe_2009_01.pdf
  • „Bestechlichkeit und Bestechung von Leistungsträgern im Gesundheitswesen“ (zusammen mit RA Dr. Henner Apfel), Arzneimittel & Recht 1/2007, S. 10 ff.
  • „Assessing South Africa’s Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act“, Acta Criminologica 2006, Vol. 19, Issue 2, pp. 18 ff.
  • „An Evaluation of South Africa’s Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act No. 12 of 2004”, Master-Dissertation an der University of Cape Town.
  • „Die Korruption innerhalb des privaten Sektors und ihre strafrechtliche Kontrolle durch § 299 StGB. – Erscheinungsformen, Rechtsgut, Tatbestandsauslegung und ein Reformvorschlag“, Dissertation an der Bucerius Law School (2006).
  • „§ 299 StGB – keine Straftat gegen den Wettbewerb!“, Zeitschrift für Internationale Strafrechtsdogmatik (ZIS) 2006, S. 63 ff., www.zis-online.com/dat/artikel/2006_2_13.pdf
  • „Das Pharma-Marketing um die niedergelassenen Kassenärzte: ‚Beauftragtenbestechung’ gemäß § 299 StGB!“, NStZ 2005, S. 133 ff.

Lectures (since 2024)

Lecture on “Conflicts of Interest and Criminal Defense Risks in Internal Investigations”

Dr. Oliver Pragal delivered a lecture on June 22, 2024, in Frankfurt am Main, as part of the 23rd Annual Conference of the New Journal for Criminal Law (NStZ). He spoke about the practically relevant field of internal investigations, discussing the conflicts of interest and risks of obstruction of justice that representatives of the commissioning companies and the attorneys conducting the investigations may potentially face. On this topic, which has been little discussed in criminal law scholarship, Attorney Dr. Pragal, together with Attorney Wolfgang Prinzenberg, published an article last year in the economic criminal law journal “wistra” addressing these issues (Pragal, wistra 2023, 275-283).


Lecture on Defense Strategies Against the Allegation of Fraud within the Health Care System

At the 24th Spring Conference of the Working Group on Medical Law of the German Bar Association (DAV) e.V., Attorney Dr. Oliver Pragal delivered a lecture on April 20, 2024, about possible defense strategies that attorneys can and should pursue for their clients against the allegation of billing fraud. Fraud is a central offense in medical criminal law, making this topic highly relevant for defense attorneys and clients affected by an investigation. Attorney Dr. Pragal will soon publish and elaborate on the approach presented in his lecture in the Journal for Comprehensive Medical Law (ZGMR).