Dr. Oliver Pragal, LL.M. (Cape Town)
Partner

29. September 2023

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”] (1^st 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)

Memberships

Publications (selection)

“comply.”, 9. edition, December 2024: “Whistleblower systems from the perspective of a corporate defence counsel“
“Medizinrecht”, 42. edition, October 2024: “Decision of the Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court on billing fraud“
ZIP (Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsrecht): “Commentary on the OLG Nuremberg decision“
ZMGR 03/2024: “Subjective defence approaches against the accusation of billing fraud“
wistra 2023, pp. 275: Pragal / Prinzenberg, “Risks of Obstruction of Justice for Attorneys in Internal Investigations?“
StV Spezial 2023, pp. 132: Pragal/Rhein, “On the ineffectiveness of prosecutorial procedural acts in the event of violations of § 32b (3) sentence 2 StPO”
EwiR 2023, pp. 551-553: Engelhoven/Pragal, “No liability for damages of the institution for cartel fines of the company”
“Correct Conduct in the Compliance Crisis” (Richtiges Verhalten in der Compliance-Krise) (1. Aufl. 2023; ed.: Dr. Philipp Engelhoven): several chapters on, among other things, conduct during searches, immediate measures upon discovery of violations, dealing with the investigation report, criminal law references to civil law issues, strategic corporate defence
StraFo 6/2020, pp. 253: „Sales-related payments of benefits to panel doctors in private practice in connection with the recommendation of food supplements (NEM) by the manufacturer“
Interview with Dr. Pragal in the magazine of the Freier Verband Deutscher Zahnärzte e.V. 02/2015: „Anti-corruption law in the healthcare sector: Under general suspicion – or image cultivation for the profession?“ PDF-Download
Hartmannbund-Magazin (01/2015): Debate “Pros & cons of the Anti-Corruption Act” (PDF-Download)
Zeitschrift für Risk, Fraud & Compliance (ZRFC) 2010, pp. 275: “Exit strategies for bribery systems – a practical report” (PDF-Download)
“The new §§ 20a ff. BKA-law”, 7th debate of the Bucerius Law Journal between Michael Bruns, Federal Prosecutor at the Federal Court of Justice, and Dr. Pragal, available at law-journal.de/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/BLJ_Ausgabe_2009_01.pdf
Arzneimittel & Recht 1/2007, pp. 10: “Corruptibility and bribery of service providers in the healthcare sector” (together with Dr. Henner Apfel)
Acta Criminologica 2006, Vol. 19, Issue 2, pp. 18„Assessing South Africa’s Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act“
Master-Dissertation an der University of Cape Town: „An Evaluation of South Africa’s Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act No. 12 of 2004”
Dissertation at the Bucerius Law School (2006): „Corruption within the private sector and its control under criminal law through § 299 StGB. – Forms of appearance, legal interest, interpretation of the offense and a reform proposal“
Zeitschrift für Internationale Strafrechtsdogmatik (ZIS) 2006, pp. 63: „§ 299 StGB – No legal offense against competition!“ (www.zis-online.com/dat/artikel/2006_2_13.pdf)
NStZ 2005, pp. 133: „Pharmaceutical marketing for registered physicians: ‘bribery of agents’ according to § 299 StGB“

Lectures (since 2024)

Lecture “The defence in medical criminal law with procedural means”

Dr. Pragal spoke at the 15th Düsseldorf Medical Criminal Law Conference about defence strategies regarding legal violations in vnspection proceedings under § 110 of the German Code of Criminal Procedure (StPO), including IT searches, permissible duration of inspections, prohibitions on the use of evidence, and claims for data deletion. He also addressed the high requirements of § 48 of the German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) for processing health data in criminal proceedings. Another focus of his lecture was a ruling by the Nuremberg-Fürth Regional Court (LG Nürnberg-Fürth) on billing fraud in the statutory health insurance sector. The presentation emphasized practical challenges in enforcing procedural rights and complying with data protection regulations.

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).