RTL.de>regional news>
Munich (dpa / lby) – Despite massive criticism from the opposition and from parts of the population, the Bavarian state parliament wants to pass the amendment to the controversial Police Task Act today. Most recently, around 2000 people demonstrated against the law in Munich last Sunday – the Left also announced another lawsuit at the event. Two constitutional complaints by the SPD and the Greens have been on the table for years against the law in its current version, but this has not yet been decided.
The Police Task Act regulates the powers of the police in dealing with the accused, but also in certain situations. The law was therefore repeatedly the cause of massive criticism from the opposition and civil rights activists. It was last tightened in 2018 by the then CSU sole government. After the state elections, the Free Voters, as coalition partners of the CSU, pushed for an amendment to the law, which is now up for voting.
Among other things, the amending law provides that the police will in future have fewer powers in the event of a so-called “imminent danger”, one of the main points of criticism. In future, the police will only be allowed to act here when it comes to extremely important legal interests such as the protection of life. So far, this has also been possible when “substantial property positions” appeared threatened. Furthermore, the terms “imminent danger” and “concrete danger” are to be better distinguished from one another through new definitions.
The changes now agreed by the CSU and Free Voters go back to the proposals of an expert commission from September 2019. This also includes stricter rules for DNA analyzes and the significant shortening of judicial detention from three to a maximum of two months. Anyone who is preventively detained for longer than a day to prevent potentially threatened criminal offenses will be entitled to a lawyer in the future.
The current criticism of the amendment is particularly the requested background check of citizens. Critics see it as a threat to civil rights and a gateway for future surveillance measures. The Ministry of the Interior has rejected this criticism as unjustified in the past.
Before the Police Tasks Act will probably only be discussed in the plenary late in the evening, the obligatory Question Time on the Corona crisis is on the agenda right at the beginning. Another topic is the recent flood situation, which caused problems in Bavaria, especially in the Berchtesgadener Land. People died, houses were evacuated. In Lower Bavaria, however, the situation in the city of Passau relaxed again on Monday. Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) had promised help and support for the people affected by the flood.
In addition, the state parliament should appoint a new president for the Bavarian Constitutional Court. The replacement is necessary because incumbent Peter Küspert will retire in September.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210719-99-440658 / 2
Source: DPA
–
— .
