The Bavarian Constitutional Court has once again dropped and dismissed a lawsuit against the Bavarian Police Tasks Act (PAG). The popular action filed is also inadmissible due to a lack of sufficient evidence of a violation of fundamental rights, said court president Hans-Joachim Hessler on Wednesday in Munich.
In their lawsuit filed in 2018, the Bund für Geistfreiheit Munich and the Bund für Geistfreiheit Bayern (BfG) had criticized preventive custody and the concept of “imminent danger” anchored in the law, which is sufficient as a prerequisite for some police measures, as unconstitutional.
According to Hessler, the criticism of the “imminent danger” was not sufficiently justified in the lawsuit and was therefore dropped, the court examined the rules for preventive detention, which are also enshrined in the law, in detail. A deprivation of liberty as an “ultima ratio” is permissible and, in the form set out in the law, not fundamentally unconstitutional, even with a view to the long term, in order to protect higher legal interests. Ultimately, the legislature is pursuing a legitimate goal with the law, stressed Hessler.
The decision does not mean that the legal debate about the law is over. Further lawsuits against the law and so-called differences of opinion between the opposition parties SPD and the Greens are still pending. Last year, a lawsuit by the Left Party against the police background check specified in the PAG was dismissed by the Constitutional Court.
The BfG argues that the PAG violates the rule of law, the principle of the separation of powers and several fundamental rights. The Bavarian state parliament and the state government considered the lawsuit to be unfounded. The PAG regulates the competencies of the police when dealing with suspects, but also in certain operational situations. Many details have been disputed for years – including the possibility of preventive detention ordered by a judge, which was recently often ordered by a judge in connection with demonstrations by climate activists. This may last up to one month if it serves to prevent criminal offenses.