Data Screening of Muslim Sleepers Unconstitutional

German Law Journal

Volumn 7, Issue 11, 2006, Pages 967-975

  Kett Straub, Gabriele ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ERLANGEN NUREMBERG   (Germany)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84917122196     PISSN: None     EISSN: 20718322     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S2071832200005216     Document Type: Article

References (34)

1. 1 A comprehensive outline about the controversial estimation of the current measures of data screening by the courts is given in: Winfried Bausback, Rasterfahndung als Mittel der vorbeugenden Verbrechensbekämpfung – Notwendigkeit einer Vereinheitlichung der landesrechtlichen Regelung angesichts des internationalen Terrorismus?, 133 BAYRISCHE VERWALTUNGSBLÄTTER (BayVBl) 713, 714 (2002). See also Wilhelm Achelpöhler and Holger Niehaus, Data Screening as a Means of Preventing Islamist Terrorist Attacks on Germany, 5 GERMAN LAW JOURNAL 495, 504 (2004), http://www.germanlawjournal.com/pdf/Vol05No05/PDF_Vol_05_No_05_495-513_special_issue_Achelpoehler_Niehaus.pdf.
2. 2 Bundesverfassungsgericht (BVerfG - Federal Constitutional Court), 59 NEUE JURISTISCHE WOCHENSCHRIFT (NJW) 1939, 1947, 147 (2006). As the adjudication in the NJW is partly shortened, quotes are occasionally taken from the Federal Constitutional Court’s homepage, where complete adjudications are published.
3. 3 Id. at 1947, 184. See also Winfried Bausback, Fesseln für die wehrhafte Demokratie?, 59 NEUE JURISTISCHE WOCHENSCHRIFT (NJW) 1922, 1924 (2006).
4. 4 See Hans Hilger, Neues Strafverfahrensrecht durch das OrgKG, 12 NEUE ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR STRAFRECHT (NStZ) 457, 460 (1992). See also STEFAN KLEVER, DIE RASTERFAHNDUNG NACH § 98 A STPO (2003); MICHAEL SIEBRECHT, RASTERFAHNDUNG (1997); and Achelpöhler & Niehaus, supra note 1, at 495-496.
5. 5 WERNER BEULKE, STRAFPROZESSRECHT, para. 262 (8th ed. 2005).
6. 6 The aim of the abduction was to extort the release of founder members of the RAF detained in Germany. Authorities did not concede to the pressure; Schleyer was murdered. See STEFAN AUST, DER BAADER-MEINHOF-KOMPLEX (1983); BUTZ PETERS, RAF (1994); BUTZ PETERS, TÖDLICHER IRRTUM (2004); WILLI WINKLER, DIE GESCHICHTE DER RAF (2005).
7. 7 SIEBRECHT, supra note 4, at 22.
8. 8 See Horst Herold, “Rasterfahndung“– eine computergeschützte Fahndungsform der Polizei, 84 RECHT UND POLITIK (RuP) 91 (1985).
9. 9 This method is called “negative data screening.” as the intersection is brought to a manageable amount by erasing negative criteria of single groups of people. On the contrary, “positive data screening” implies the search for circumstances which apply to the perpetrator. See SIEBRECHT, supra note 4, at 22.
10. 10 At that time, the data screening measures were based on the following general regulations: Strafprozeβordnung [StPO] [Code of Criminal Procedure] §161, 163.
11. 11 Conducting a dragnet investigation as a measure of inquiry assumes that at least a primary suspicion concerning a committed offense is known, and which must be of great seriousness also. Strafprozeβordnung [StPO] [Code of Criminal Procedure] §98 a (catalog of offenses).
12. 12 Bundesverfassungsgericht (BVerfG – Federal Constitutioal Court), 1 BvR 518/02, para. 4, (April 4, 2006) http://www.bverfg.de/entscheidungen/rs20060404_1bvr051802.html.
13. 13 Bausback, supra note 1 (good review of the different police laws).
14. 14 See MARTIN KOCH, DATENERHEBUNG UND –VERARBEITUNG IN DEN POLIZEIGESETZEN DER LÄNDER 187 (1999).
15. 15 Bausback, supra note 1, at 715 (showing the connection of the different police laws in detail and the sources of all laws).
16. 16 See BGHSt 49, 112 (116) (For possible assault plans in Germany); Bundesgerichtshof, (BGH – Federal Court of Justice), 59 NEUE JURISTISCHE WOCHENSCHRIFT (NJW) 2322, 2324 (2006). See Christoph J.M. Safferling, Terror and Law – Is the German Legal System able to deal with Terrorism?, 5 GERMAN LAW JOURNAL 515 (2004), http://www.germanlawjournal.com/pdfVol05No05/PDF_Vol_05_No_05_515-524_special_issue_Safferling.pdf; Loammi Blaauw-Wolf, The Hamburg Terror Trials – American Political Poker and German Legal Procedure: An Unlikely Combination to Fight International Terrorism, 5 GERMAN LAW JOURNAL 791 (2004), http://www.germanlawjournal.com/pdf/Vol05No07/PDF_Vol_05_No_07_791-828_Public_Wolf.pdf.
17. 17 See Bundesverfassungsgericht (BVerfG - Federal Constitutional Court), 59 NEUE JURISTISCHE WOCHENSCHRIFT (NJW) 1939 (2006), (for criteria in detail) and Amtsgericht Wiesbaden (AG – Regional Court), DATENSCHUTZ UND DATENSICHERHEIT (DuD) 752 (2001).
18. 18 Lisken demured this cooperation. See Hans F. Lisken, Zur polizeilichen Rasterfahndung, 21 NEUE ZEITSCHRIFT FUER VERWALTUNGSRECHT (NVwZ) 513, 514 (2002). To avoid such problems concerning competence, Bundeskriminalamtgesetz [BKAG] [Federal Criminal Police Office Law] § 7 was temporarily changed accordingly.
19. 19 Only 5.2 million pieces of information came from North Rhine-Westphalia. See Bundesverfassungsgericht (BVerfG – Federal Constitutioal Court), 1 BvR 518/02, para. 28, (April 4, 2006) http://www.bverfg.de/entscheidungen/rs20060404_1bvr051802.html.
20. 20 See Bundesverfassungsgericht (BVerfG - Federal Constitutional Court), 59 NEUE JURISTISCHE WOCHENSCHRIFT (NJW) 1939, (2006).
21. 21 Id. at 1942. See also Achelpöhler & Niehaus, supra note 1, at 496-98 (further discussion of the background as regards constitutional law and basic rights).
22. 22 See Bundesverfassungsgericht (BVerfG - Federal Constitutional Court), 59 NEUE JURISTISCHE WOCHENSCHRIFT (NJW) 1939, 1944 (2006); BVerfGE 100, 313 (376); BVerfGE 107, 299 (320); BVerfGE 109, 279 (353); BVerfGE 113, 29 (53); BVerfGE 113, 348 (383).
23. 23 BVerfGE 107, 299 (321); BVerfG 59 NEUE JURISTISCHE WOCHENSCHRIFT (NJW) 976, 981 (2006).
24. 24 See BVerfG 59 NEUE JURISTISCHE WOCHENSCHRIFT (NJW) 1939, 1943 (2006).
25. 25 Id. at 1944.
26. th ed. 2004).
27. th ed. 2004)
28. 28 Given that special courts (Fachgerichte) misjudged the importance and consequences of fundamental rights interpreting simple right, the case is no longer reversed to the Federal Constitutional Court for reexamination; see BVerfGE 7, 198; BVerfGE 101, 361 (388).
29. 29 See Bundesverfassungsgericht (BVerfG - Federal Constitutional Court), 59 NEUE JURISTISCHE WOCHENSCHRIFT (NJW) 1939, 1947 (2006).
30. 32 The traditional term of a present threat was abided by: Oberlandesgericht Frankfurt (OLG – Higher Regional Court), 21 NEUE ZEITSCHRIFT FUER VERWALTUNGSRECHT (NVwZ) 626 (2002); Landesgericht Wiesbaden (LG – Regional Court), 26 DATENSCHUTZ UND DATENSICHERHEIT (DuD) 240, 241 (2002); Landesgericht Berlin (LG – Regional Court), 26 DATENSCHUTZ UND DATENSICHERHEIT (DuD) 175, 176 (2002). However, the requirements on probability of damage were lowered by: Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf (OLG – Higher Regional Court), 26 DATENSCHUTZ UND DATENSICHERHEIT (DuD) 241 (2002); Kammergericht Berlin (KG – Regional Court), 5 MULTIMEDIA UND RECHT (MMR) 616, 617 (2002); Oberverwaltungsgericht Koblenz (OVG – Higher Regional Administrative Court), 21 NEUE ZEITSCHRIFT FUER VERWALTUNGSRECHT (NVwZ) 1528 (2002); Verwaltungsgerichtshof Mainz (VG – Administrative Court), 21 DATENSCHUTZ UND DATENSICHERHEIT (DuD) 303, 305 (2002); Amtsgericht Wiesbaden (AG – District Court), 25 DATENSCHUTZ UND DATENSICHERHEIT (DuD) 752, 753 (2001); Amtsgericht Tiergarten (AG – District Court), 25 DATENSCHUTZ UND DATENSICHERHEIT (DuD) 691, 692 (2001). The different requirements on the notion of damage are clearly laid out by MATTHIAS JAHN, DAS STRAFRECHT DES STAATSNOTSTANDES 87 (2004). See also Martin Kutscha, Rechtsschutzdefizite bei Grundrechtseingriffen von Sicherheitsbehörden, 22 NEUE ZEITSCHRIFT FUER VERWALTUNGSRECHT (NVwZ) 1296, 1299 (2003).
31. 33 See Oliver Lepsius, Liberty, Security and Terrorism: The Legal Position in Germany, 5 GERMAN LAW JOURNAL 435 (2004), http://www.germanlawjournal.com/pdf/Vol05No05/PDF_Vol_05_No_05_435460_special_issue_Lepsius.pdf (concerning other counter-terrorist measures according to German law).
32. 34 See BVerfGE 30, 292 (316); BVerfGE 33, 171 (187); BVerfGE 67, 157 (173).
33. 35 See Winfried Hassemer, Sicherheit durch Strafrecht – Eröffnungsvortrag Strafverteidigertag 24.3.2006, 26 DER STRAFVERTEIDIGER (StV) 321, 332 (2006) (discussing development of the criminal law regarding danger defense).
34. 36 Bausback, supra note 1, at 1922.