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Berlin is the first federal state to receive a nationwide anti-discrimination law. One consequence: sharp criticism from the Union. The interior ministers of all other 15 countries should no longer send police officers to Berlin for administrative assistance, the CDU and CSU domestic policy spokesmen in the federal and state governments demand.
► Joachim Herrmann (CSU), Bavaria’s interior minister, said in Munich that the law “with far-reaching compensation regulations literally wrong people to overwhelm the police with flimsy allegations of discrimination in order to cash in.”
► The CDU interior politician from Baden-Württemberg Thomas Blenke criticized that the new law placed the police and the entire public service “under general suspicion of fundamental and structural discrimination.” And further: “Germany is not the USA. We have no racism problem in the police here. “
► And the deputy chairman of the CDU / CSU parliamentary group, Thorsten Frei, said it was a black day for every police officer in Germany. “It is particularly serious that not only Berlin police officers are affected, but also the federal police officers and the thousands of other emergency services deployed to the capital to protect around 5,000 events per year.”
If a police officer is exposed to allegations of discrimination, he must be given legal advice by the lawyer of the authority, Frei said. A general waiver of financial recourse claims should be laid down between the authority and the police.
86 MPs voted yes, 57 voted no
The law from the administration of the Green Senator for Justice, Dirk Behrendt, is intended to protect the people of Berlin from discrimination on the part of the authorities and to allow claims for damages against the State of Berlin if this has happened.
Critics had complained that the burden of proof would be reversed: in the future, police officers would have to prove that allegations of discrimination against them were wrong. The Senate Administration had rejected this criticism – and the House of Representatives had now passed the relevant law at the last session before the summer break.
Of the 143 MPs present, 86 voted yes, 57 voted no. The State Anti-Discrimination Act (LADG) should come into force on the day after publication in the “Law and Regulation Gazette”, which must happen no later than 14 days after the resolution has been passed.
Berlin FDP is considering lawsuit
The Berlin FDP faction is considering legal action against the new law. Holger Krestel, spokesman for law and constitutional protection, said the law was a resounding slap in the face of all police officers in the capital.
“As the FDP parliamentary group, we reserve the right to have the constitutionality examined in the context of a lawsuit to control standards and thus to restore legal certainty for the police.”
Read also
► Justice Senator Behrendt: Many people in Berlin experience discrimination
► How discriminatory is the Berlin law against discrimination?
Krestel criticized that the passed law made the work of the Berlin police considerably more difficult because the burden of proof in the case of allegations of discrimination now lay with her.
Berlin CDU state chairman Kai Wegner said: “We want to abolish this anti-police law as soon as we have the opportunity. We do not accept that civil servants, some of whom are at greatest risk for our security, are put under general suspicion. ”The new law stirs up the strife in Berlin.
Justice Senator Behrendt defends anti-discrimination law
Justice Senator Dirk Behrendt (Greens) defended the nationwide anti-discrimination law against harsh criticism. The law is not aimed at the individual police officers, the state of Berlin will be claimed, Behrendt said on Thursday in the RBB “evening show”. For police officers and the other employees of the public service who work according to law and law, “nothing will change,” said the Greens politician. “It’s about extreme cases where discrimination occurs and we should all fight it.”
Behrendt further explained the law in the RBB with regard to the administration: If someone who is black or gay is treated differently in the administration than someone who is not, then this indicates discrimination and the law applies. “If, for example, three white men apply for a restaurant permit and get it, and a black man doesn’t get it – then you would have to take a closer look at why.”
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