Youth Protection Act (JuSchG)
The German Bundestag has adopted the following law with the consent of the Bundesrat:
Definitions
(1) For the purposes of this Act
1. children are persons who have not yet reached the age of 14,
2. adolescents are persons who are 14 but not yet 18 years old,
3. a person entitled to custody is anyone who alone or jointly with another person has the right of personal care under the provisions of the Civil Code,
4. a person with educational authority is any person over 18 years of age who, on a permanent or temporary basis, takes on educational tasks on the basis of an agreement with the person entitled to custody or who looks after a child or an adolescent in the context of training or youth welfare.
(2) For the purposes of this Act, storage media are media containing texts, images or sounds on physical carriers that are suitable for distribution, intended for direct perception, or built into a playback or gaming device. Electronic distribution, transfer, offering or making storage media available is equivalent to physical distribution, transfer, offering or making them available, insofar as it is not broadcasting within the meaning of § 2 of the Interstate Broadcasting Treaty.
(3) For the purposes of this Act, telemedia are media that are transmitted or made accessible in accordance with the Telemedia Act. Making own or third-party content available is considered transmission or making accessible within the meaning of sentence 1.
(4) Distance selling within the meaning of this Act is any transaction for consideration that is carried out by ordering and sending goods by postal delivery or electronic delivery without personal contact between supplier and purchaser or without technical or other measures ensuring that no shipment is made to children and adolescents.
(5) The provisions of §§ 2 to 14 of this Act do not apply to married adolescents.
Duty to check and provide proof
(1) Insofar as this Act requires accompaniment by a person with educational authority, the persons referred to in § 1 para. 1 no. 4 must demonstrate their authority on request. Organizers and tradespeople must check this authority in cases of doubt.
(2) Persons for whom age limits have to be observed under this Act must prove their age in an appropriate manner on request. Organizers and tradespeople must check the age in cases of doubt.
Smoking in public, tobacco products
(1) In restaurants, points of sale or otherwise in public, tobacco products and other nicotine-containing products and their containers may neither be supplied to children or adolescents nor may they be allowed to smoke or consume nicotine-containing products.
(2) In public, tobacco products and other nicotine-containing products and their containers may not be offered in vending machines. This does not apply if a vending machine
1. is installed in a place inaccessible to children and adolescents, or
2. is equipped with technical devices or subject to constant supervision to ensure that children and adolescents cannot remove tobacco products and other nicotine-containing products and their containers.
(3) Tobacco products and other nicotine-containing products and their containers may neither be offered to children and adolescents in distance selling nor supplied to children and adolescents by way of distance selling.
(4) Paragraphs 1 to 3 also apply to nicotine-free products, such as electronic cigarettes or electronic shishas, in which liquid is vaporized by an electronic heating element and the resulting aerosols are inhaled through the mouth, as well as to their containers.
