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The Federal Constitutional Court awards prisoners legal aid

2021-01-27T13:13:37.103Z


Their communal cells are too small and the toilet is not separated - two prisoners from Bavaria complained against this. A district court denied them legal aid. The Federal Constitutional Court has now ruled wrongly.


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View from a prison

Photo: Daniel Naupold / dpa

There is new hope for two prisoners who complained in a legal dispute about possibly inhumane accommodation in Bavarian prisons.

The Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) granted two constitutional complaints from the men on Wednesday and referred the cases back to the Augsburg Regional Court for a new decision.

The victims were detained separately in Augsburg and Aichach in 2012 and allegedly complained of inhumane treatment because they were each housed in too small cells with another prisoner.

In addition, the toilets were not structurally separated and there were no exhaust air devices.

The men wanted to take action against this and had applied for legal aid.

However, the Augsburg Regional Court rejected this.

The Karlsruhe judges did not judge the conditions of detention themselves, but objected to the actions of the other courts in the proceedings.

Federal Constitutional Court sees fundamental rights violated

In the first case, the Karlsruhe judges decided, among other things, that the regional court was not allowed to dismiss a claim for legal aid in the amount of 600 euros without further justification.

The cell size in the Aichach correctional facility was controversial.

While the Free State of Bavaria assumed 8.98 square meters, the detainee gave 7.41.

The toilet is only provided with a "pubic curtain".

If the lower value is correct, the man would be entitled to less than 4 square meters - which, according to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, must be carefully examined with regard to the prohibition of torture and inhuman treatment.

From the point of view of the Federal Constitutional Court, it is unclear why the regional court did not consider the evidence offered.

This violated the man's right to be heard.

In the other case, both the Augsburg Regional Court and the Munich Higher Regional Court had also denied a man legal aid.

The BVerfG said that they had violated the right to equal legal protection.

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fek / dpa / AFP

Source: spiegel

All life articles on 2021-01-27

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