Berlin became the first German state on Thursday to pass its anti-discrimination law, with the majority of the legislatures approved the law. The new law bars public servants, including public schools and police, from discriminating on the bases of background, gender, skin color, mental, or physical disability, worldview, age, and sexual identity.
It also criminalizes the discrimination against people on lack of German language skills, or on their income, occupation, and education. Under the newly enacted law, the victims are entitled to compensation and damages.
Law further allows police authorities to dispute any claim of discrimination. Although the work on the law has been in progress for weeks, in the aftermath of recent anti-racism protests in the United States and spread across the world, the law is taken on a new dimension.
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Last year, Federal anti-discrimination Agency said in a guide to the law that the new law passed by Berlin goes further than the existing federal General Equal Treatment Law, which was passed in 2006. However, it covers the discrimination between private citizens and employment but does not cover the areas governed by public law.
It further highlighted that discrimination is still prohibited in this context because the country’s basic law requires its citizens to be protected against discrimination both by and from the German State. However, the governing coalition of Berlin comprised of Social Democrats, the greens, and the left party has said that the new law did not go far enough and that the new rules help to narrow a legal gap.
In recent days, the plans have faced fierce criticism within the country, particularly from the interior minister and police unions. They assert that the new law puts undue pressure on the law enforcement authorities. Dirk Behrendt, a member of the green party and Berlin’s justice minister, defended the anti-discrimination law, saying that it protects the citizens from systemic racism, and it will not hamper any police work.
He added that the vast majority of the police officials and other public servants do not want to discriminate or act in such a manner. Behrendt said the new law does not change anything for those public servants and police officers.
The council of Europe also urged Germany in March to ramp up its anti-discrimination efforts and calling on its police authorities to participate in the study regarding racial profiling.
