The Berlin-Mitte district court partially ruled in favor of the plaintiff. In January 2023, officers were searching for a suspected drug dealer on the RAW grounds in Berlin-Friedrichshain. The suspect description was of a dark-skinned person with dreadlocks. At a snack bar, police encountered a Black man in a dark hoodie but with short hair – and demanded his ID.
The man pointed out that the description did not match him, but eventually showed his ID. The officers ran a data check, which came up empty. The court ruled that the identity check itself was still proportionate, but the subsequent data query constituted unlawful discrimination. Skin color had played a dominant role in the decision to run the check.
The ruling was based on the Berlin Anti-Discrimination Act, which has been in effect since 2020. It is not yet final. The legal magazine LTO first reported on the case.
Source: www.spiegel.de
