Criminalisation of environmental protest in Germany – abuse of accelerated trials in the case of activists of “Letzte Generation”

• In Event: The Criminalisation of Environmental Activism

Abstract

In these days climate activists around the world are under pressure. Activists in Germany are no exception. Many of the criminal proceedings against climate activists take place in Berlin, Germany. This is where the movement “Letzte Generation” have had the focus of their protests. The German justice system seems at least in Berlin heavily overwhelmed by dealing with thousands of protest actions, most of which were roadblocks prosecuted under the criminal offence of coercion.
As a way of dealing with this overload and due to political pressure, the public prosecutor's office of Berlin started to request “Accelerated Trials” against the activists. This type of trial is normally used for uncomplicated petty crimes. The law requires a simple factual situation or the clarity of the evidence which makes the case suited for an immediate hearing as stipulated in section 417 of the German Code of Criminal Procedure (StPO). This special proceeding is criticized by a lot of scholars, not just because there is a great danger of restricting the rights of defendants in court unlawfully.
There has recently been a massive increase in indictments against climate activists, in which accelerated trials were requested. While some judges refuse to take part in the abuse of accelerated trials, most of them summons the activists before court. The discussion aims to address the problem behind accelerated trials in general and the misuse of this possibility to get easy and fast convictions against climate activists.

Authors

• André Bohn, University in Kiel, Germany

• Benedikt Ehrlich, Lawyer from Leipzig, Germany