The Dresden Administrative Court has declared another identity check carried out by federal police officers based solely on the skin color of the person checked (racial profiling) unlawful. Following a turbulent hearing on November 2, 2016, the Dresden Administrative Court has now issued its written judgment in case number 6 K 196/15 . In it, the court reprimands the responsible Federal Police Directorate in Pirna, primarily for the apparently pre-arranged and specially prepared witness statements of the federal police officers who conducted the checks.
The plaintiff, a 45-year-old film director and sworn court interpreter, was returning to Leipzig from a court hearing in Erfurt on March 31, 2014. At Erfurt train station, he was stopped and searched by two federal police officers, who, in his opinion, did so solely because of his dark skin. The federal police, however, claimed that the plaintiff had "behaved suspiciously" and that his skin color had played no role in the stop. The hearing before the Administrative Court revealed that the responsible Federal Police Directorate in Pirna had withheld relevant written statements from the officers and their superiors from the court until the hearing. One of the officers also admitted to having privately received an official statement from the other officer before preparing his own statements. The Administrative Court abruptly ended the taking of evidence when one of the officers testified that he and the other officer who had stopped him had been briefed by a legal advisor from the Federal Police Directorate in Pirna for the presentation of evidence in the court proceedings. This advisor had been officially assigned from Bayreuth to Pirna for this purpose.
In its written judgment , the court stated that the mere fact that such a preparatory meeting took place was enough to raise concerns about agreements made there. Therefore, it could no longer be conclusively proven that the police officers had not discriminated against the plaintiff. Under these circumstances, the Federal Police could no longer prove the legality of the check. Consequently, the court did not grant leave to appeal the judgment.
“It is already difficult to prove in court that police officers conduct checks on trains and at train stations based on skin color. The fact that officers are now even being prepared for their testimony, both in terms of content and potentially tactics, has significant implications for the credibility of the Federal Police in such proceedings. The Administrative Court's ruling is therefore as consistent as it is fundamental,” commented attorney Sven Adam, who represents the plaintiff.
The grounds for the judgment of the Administrative Court of Dresden can be found here.
