Analysis focused on its substantive effects on West German law, its effect on the prosecution of receiving stolen goods, and whether the clause should be restored. An analysis of the concepts on which laws governing receipt of stolen goods are based is provided, and it is shown that the reform has not substantively changed the law. Results of a questionnaire survey of police practitioners support the assumption that the reform has made their job more difficult. The statistical increase in successful prosecution of theft and the decrease in receiving offenses found in 1975 is explained in terms of the psychological effect of the reform on the police. It is recommended that the clause not be reinstituted because of difficulties in its interpretation. Marking of expensive consumer goods, goal-oriented investigation, organizational changes, and intensified prosecution are recommended. Extensive tabular data are appended. 251 notes and 130 references.