German Constitutional Court declares Police Law unconstitutional

The German Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe released a judgement today which declared parts of the Lower Saxony Police Law unconstitutional. These parts allowed the police to tap phones to prevent crimes.

The reasoning was based on the one hand on the formal argument the the province has no authority to make regulations about criminal prosecution since the federation already regulated this all-embracing.

In respect of the content the judges argued the the law was too vague and disproportionately restricting basic rights. Last, the law offered no protection of intimate and highly personal conversations.

• The Constitutional Court's Press Release.
• Some interesting comments about that decision on the lfg blog.