This high profile law designed to protect citizens of Berlin from bias on the part of the authorities, for example, because of skin color, sex, religion or belief, disability, age, sexual orientation and gender identity, and social status. It simplifies the procedure for filing complaints including the police and allows lawsuits against the city about the damages compensation in the amount from 300 to 1000 euros. A local radio station Deutsche Welle reports that the greatest resonance in the society caused a provision stating that in the presence of “compelling testimony” of the victim, the civil servants have to prove the groundlessness of these accusations. “According to critics of the law, this provision reverses the presumption of innocence not only for law enforcement officers, but even for the teachers – students of foreign origin can be interpreted either as discrimination,” reports Deutsche Welle.
the author of the legislative initiative of the Berlin Senator Nick Behrendt calls the document “a new milestone in German anti-discrimination policy.” In an interview with capital radio, he said that now if his dark-skinned friends will say that they have asked for documents more often than their white friends, he will advise them to complain to law enforcement. And police now fear that the reason for complaints can be a RAID against an Arab criminal clans and drug dealers of African origin. No wonder that in several Federal States of Germany, where support for other regions in the field of law enforcement has a long tradition and is considered irreplaceable, said that they would not send their officers to the aid of the Berlin colleagues, yet will not receive from the authorities the guarantee that this change will not affect.
