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10POL0 - PAP14 - Racial Profiling and Discrimination by Police Authorities: Legal Responses in Germany
Session Type: Pre-Arranged Panel
Category: 10. Policing (ESC WG)
Session Details
Racial Profiling and Discrimination by Police Authorities: Legal Responses in Germany
The panel aims to give an overview about the problem of racial profiling by the police in Germany and existing and potential legal responses to racial discrimination. First, Katrin Werner-Kappler will provide an overview about actions by police authorities that are not linked to suspicion or danger and explains why they support discriminatory practices by the police. She explains further that while racial profiling is incompatible with human rights, legal protection is still only possible to a very limited extent. Sarah Praunsmändel also discusses measures that are not based on suspicion or danger. Referring to the interdisciplinary concept of Law in Action and studies from the US, she shows that general traffic controls are often discriminatory. She argues that one task of lawmaking is to design laws in such a way that they are not a gateway for discrimination. The talks by Antonia Strecke and Maja Werner focus on possible legal responses to make legal protection against discriminatory police measures more effective. Strecke discusses the potential of statistics to overcome the difficulties of proof in anti-discrimination law and explains the current legal framework of providing statistics on the use of stop and search and identity check powers. She further questions whether such statistics entail the risk of reproducing stereotypes and, if so, how this can be prevented. Werner will introduce the Berlin state anti-discrimination act and its regulations, which aim to improve the legal protection against discrimination by state authorities. She explains why this law is useful for improving legal protection and certainly does not prevent the police from working effectively.
Authors
Maja Werner
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law
Abstract
In 2020, the federal state of Berlin enacted an anti-discrimination act (LADG) to react to discriminatory practices by public authorities. This law makes Berlin the first state in Germany to have an anti-discrimination law not only for civil but also for public law, which also applies in cases of identity checks by police forces. If state authorities discriminate people on the basis of gender, ethnic origin, a racial attribution, religion or belief, disability, chronic illness, age, language, sexual or gender identity, or social status, victims have a right to compensation. The law is controversial. While the German Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency, for example, considers the law a step forward, many politicians and police officers fear that policing will no longer be possible because police officers will always now fear being sued. The most controversial aspect of the law is the presumption of discrimination in Sec. 7 of the LADG, which requires the public body to disprove discrimination if the victim can claim that discrimination is likely to have occurred. The talk focuses on key provisions in the law, arguing that the law is necessary to improve legal protection and it can be expected that the police can continue to work effectively.
Racial Profiling on The Roads: Law in Action in Traffic Controls
Authors
Sarah Praunsmändel
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main and Centre for Security and Society, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
Abstract
Traffic monitoring is a central task of the police. However, it has received only rare academic attention in Germany so far. Setting out with the aim to change this situation, this talk focuses on the potential for discrimination in traffic monitoring. General traffic controls in Germany are designed without suspicion or danger to road traffic. In principle, all people driving a car can be checked. They are therefore similar to the control possibilities of the Federal Police addressed in Werner-Kappler’s talk. These unrestricted possibilities of control unfold their problem predominantly in the application level of the law: The concrete selection of the controlled person is made by the police officers, and it is their decision-making margin which provides the doorway for racist prejudice. The talk discusses this issue, also considering the research and academic discussion on Driving While Black in the United States. Following on from this, Praunsmändel will show that it is the law itself that allows the influence of racist stereotypes. Therefore, both the wording of the concrete law and the Law in Action must be considered while discussing police discrimination.
Statistics on Police Actions: Necessary Tool for Effective Legal Protection or Reproduction of Stereotypes?
Authors
Antonia Strecke
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law
Abstract
In order to overcome the difficulties of proof inherent in anti-discrimination law, both the Union and the German legislator refer to statistics as an aiding tool. However, given the persecution of minorities emanating from Nazi Germany, the German government refrains from collecting data related to the categories "race" or "ethnic origin". Although normative-hypothetical evidence is generally recognised in addition to empirical-statistical evidence, the fact that police stop and search powers are likely to produce discriminatory effects has not yet been recognised by German courts. Since society tends to negate or overlook discriminatory structures all too often, such a legal ruling is also not very likely in the near future. This makes empirical material on potentially racist patterns of control all the more important. However, since the persons concerned have no insight into police control practice, it is not possible for the individual to compile such statistics. The question therefore arises as to whether the state must collect such data in order to provide effective legal protection. Nevertheless, the reluctance of the German government highlights the risks of such data sets. Is it even possible to collect data on police control practices without reproducing racist attributions and categorisations?
10POL0 - PAP14 - Racial Profiling and Discrimination by Police Authorities: Legal Responses in Germany
Description
Please only choose to join as an attendee if you are NOT a speaker.Session Chair
Maja Werner
22/9/2022, 5:30 PM — 6:45 PM