In a landmark ruling, the Higher Administrative Court (OVG) of Rhineland-Palatinate declared the stop and search of a young family by federal police officers on January 25, 2014, unlawful on April 21, 2016 (Case No.: 7 A 11108/14.OVG). According to the evidence presented, the plaintiffs' black skin color was at least a contributing factor to the stop and thus a violation of the prohibition of discrimination enshrined in the Basic Law, the OVG judges ruled.
On January 25, 2014, Mr. and Mrs. G. from Mainz were traveling on a regional train from Mainz towards Bonn with their children, then five and one and a half years old. During the journey, the plaintiffs, now 37 years old and 40 years old, were stopped and checked by officers of the Federal Police without cause and in front of other passengers. The data from their German identity cards was forwarded to the control center for verification. No other passengers on the train were checked.
After extensive examination of the evidence, the court could not rule out today that the plaintiffs' skin color was a key criterion for the check. However, the Higher Administrative Court stated in its oral pronouncement of the judgment that selecting individuals for checks based solely or even primarily on their skin color violates the prohibition of discrimination under Article 3, Paragraph 3, Sentence 1 of the Basic Law.
“ The Higher Administrative Court’s ruling is a milestone in the fight against the unlawful practice of racial profiling ,” says Sven Adam, a lawyer from Göttingen representing the plaintiffs. “ From now on, the Federal Police will have to prove that they did not conduct a discriminatory check if outward appearances suggest a check based on skin color. Until now, proving discrimination regularly posed a procedural problem, as the internal motivations of police officers are difficult to prove, ” Adam continues, explaining the significance of the decision.
“ With this decision, the Higher Administrative Court (OVG) has also significantly strengthened the importance of the principle of equality,” added Alexander Tischbirek, who represented the Office for the Implementation of Equal Treatment (BUG) in the lawsuit. “ During the proceedings, we repeatedly pointed out, with reference to Article 3, Paragraph 3 of the Basic Law, that checks based on skin color must be considered unlawful discrimination even if skin color was only a partial reason for the measure. The OVG has now confirmed this, ” Tischbirek concluded.
The appeal to the Federal Administrative Court was granted. However, no further evidence will be taken there.
