Inter-Ministerial Criminal Law Task Force to Better Protect Women and Children

Brief Description

In March 2018, a Inter-Ministerial Criminal Law Task Force to Better Protect Women and Children was set up under the leadership of the State Office in the Federal Ministry of the Interior. The task force included more than 120 experts from relevant federal ministries and facilities. They worked in subject-specific sub-working groups to develop measures in the fields of criminal law, victim protection and active work with the offender. More than 50 proposals by the task force on Criminal Law that were identified as urgent were passed by the Council of Ministers on 13 February 2019. In May 2019, draft bills for providing these measures have been sent out for public consultation until 26 June 2019. The proposed measures included: 
• an increase in the minimum sentence and removing the option of an entirely conditional sentence for rape, 
• an expansion of the offence of stalking, 
• an increase in the penalty for ongoing violence against minors and defenseless people, 
• under certain conditions an increase in the maximum sentence for repeat offenders, 
• the introduction or increase in the minimum sentence for certain premeditate offences against minors or particularly vulnerable people, 
• the introduction of a lifelong ban on a professional activity as a sanction for legal convictions for offences against the sexual integrity and self-determination of minors or defenseless people, 
• the classification of FGM as a severe permanent consequence of a physical injury.