Mass panic at the Loveparade 2010 in Duisburg: tight statutes of limitations should make legal processing of such catastrophes longer possible in the future
Photo: Erik Wiffers / picture alliance / dpa
A fatal crush at the Duisburg Love Parade in July 2010 cost the lives of 21 people.
More than 500 others were injured, many of whom are still suffering today.
Criminal proceedings against originally ten defendants were dropped in 2020 after two and a half years and 184 days of sittings without a verdict.
A commission of lawyers set up by the North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of Justice on the basis of a state parliament resolution has now formulated recommendations for better handling of such disasters.
According to this, tight limitation periods should no longer slow down the legal processing of complex accidents.
A statute of limitations should be excluded as soon as the main hearing on such catastrophes has begun, suggests the commission of legal experts that worked through the Love Parade accident.
"Profound disappointment with the judiciary and the rule of law"
The lawyers emphasize that the termination of proceedings in the middle of the main proceedings is incompatible with the idea of justice.
From the point of view of those affected, this does not contribute to legal peace, said Commission Chairman Clemens Lückemann in Düsseldorf.
Together with NRW Minister of Justice Peter Biesenbach (CDU), the former President of the Higher Regional Court of Bamberg presented the final report on the lessons learned from the Love Parade disaster.
Currently, a risk of the statute of limitations is only broken with a first-instance judgment.
If the statute of limitations threatened in the ongoing main hearing, the courts would either be forced to “sham hearings” or “forced to over-accelerate in the sense of a hasty trial,” said Lückemann.
Both are incompatible with the dignity of the court and the role of the judiciary as the third state authority.
From the point of view of those affected, such experiences led to “profound disappointment with the judiciary and the rule of law”.
Loveparade was more than an isolated case
Biesenbach announced that the Commission's proposals would be put on the agenda at the next justice ministers' conference in June.
After all, this is not an isolated case, emphasized the Minister of Justice.
Unsatisfactory conclusions of large-scale procedures with a multi-causal background can be observed again and again.
As examples, he cited the trial of the devastating ICE accident in Eschede, the trial of the collapse of the ice rink in Bad Reichenhall or foreign court proceedings such as in Salzburg over the Kaprun 2 glacier cable car accident or the cable car accident in Cavalese, Italy.
Another lesson from the Love Parade accident is: "Enlightenment should overcome the limits of criminal law," said Lückemann.
The legal commission set up by the NRW Ministry of Justice on the basis of a state parliament resolution therefore also recommends setting up a federal-state commission that takes into account the causes and factors of complex catastrophes beyond the criminal process.
More courage to maneuver criticism
These could include organizational and personal conditions that would have favored an accident, or weaknesses in security systems.
It makes sense to set up an expert database “for all conceivable accidents”.
In the Love Parade process, the search for a suitable expert had delayed the process.
The experts also recommend that in future every public prosecutor's office should provide suitably trained "victim prosecutors" for complex proceedings.
For material compensation, the criminal courts should be able to award a minimum amount as damages, suggested Lückemann.
»If the victim wants more, they have to take civil action.
But we hear from Austria that victims are very often satisfied with this minimum amount.«
The 20-point paper by the Commission also includes: "Criticism of maneuvers must become a natural standard." The judiciary should always process large-scale proceedings after they have been completed - if necessary with joint prosecutors and defense lawyers, said Lückemann.
ala/dpa