Plea bargaining is the most commonly used type of simplified procedure. Annually, nearly 60% of all cases end up with the approval of a plea bargaining settlement by the court.

The new CCP contains three types of so-called out of court settlements or simplified procedures (plea bargaining, Strafbefehl and speedy procedure) with the aim to fasten criminal procedure by reducing the workload of overburdened courts. The goal is that in the future most of the cases will be solved out of court, and only in complex cases or in those having intense public interest, a trial would take place.