There are some interesting and some quite weird laws around the world. For example, trying to break out of prison is actually not illegal in Germany or Austria. This may seem strange but the authorities in these two countries consider it “basic human instinct” for an imprisoned person to seek their own freedom. This law was introduced back in 1880.

This legal fact means that a prisoner in one of these two countries will not be punished if they get caught while trying to escape from incarceration. Of course, this doesn’t mean that if a prisoner is caught trying to escape from jail the guards would just let them go. In fact, in those two countries it is punishable to assist someone in escaping from prison. A person caught helping a prisoner plan and perform their escape can be sentenced to up to 5 years in jail.

Prison outbreaks and other offences by prisoners in Germany and Austria do not go by unpunished either. So, even though trying to escape may go unpunished, this doesn’t mean that there is a tide of escaped prisoners in these two European countries