At the beginning of January 2014 the researcher Dr. Andreas S.*, who stems from a German-Indian family, took the train from Kempten to Munich. Near Kaufbeuren, federal police officers got on the train and carried out an suspicion-independent check of Dr. S.'s identity. The officers did not check any other people in the railcar. The person in question, who had already repeatedly had similar experiences, suspected that he had been checked because of his skin color. He felt discriminated against, and filed a complaint at the Administrative Court in Munich.

The plaintiff made use of the legal assistance provided by the BUG and a first hearing took place on April 8, 2015. Since the second police officer could not be questioned during the hearing, the second hearing took place on May 20, 2015. The proceedings were then continued in writing. In July 2016, the Administrative Court of Munich ruled in favor of the defendant. You can find the verdict here.

Here you will find a press release of the BUG about the first-instance ruling.

The BUG filed an appeal, and the respective hearing at the Bavarian Administrative Court in Munich was scheduled for April 8, 2019. However, this did not take place because the Federal Police Headquarters in Munich acknowledged the illegality of the identity check shortly before the hearing. The BUG has published a press release on this issue.

*Name was changed.