Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) has put forward a proposal that would give German police the power to search terror suspects’ houses, smartphones and computers in secret.

Faeser proposes extending German police power to search homes

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has formally proposed that the Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt) be allowed to enter terror suspects’ homes to install spyware on their mobile phones and laptops and search the premises.

Faeser’s proposal comes in the wake of a knife attack on a festival in the city of Solingen, during which three people were killed and eight seriously wounded.

Since the attack on August 23, the German government has also pledged to enforce deportations more actively and crack down on weapons.

"In this context, we believe it is completely self-evident that security authorities must have the appropriate powers to counter [terrorist attacks]," a spokesperson for Faeser said in defence of the draft law.

Once further details have been finalised, the draft law will face a vote in the Bundestag. Put to a vote, the law is unlikely to garner support from the FDP, the smallest coalition partner party in Olaf Scholz’s governing Ampelkoalition.

"There will be no authorisation given to secretly snoop in people's homes. We don't do that in a constitutional state. That would be an absolute breach of taboo," Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) wrote on X.

Which surveillance and search powers do the German police already have?

The German police currently have the power to remotely tap terror suspects’ devices in secret. However, a court must first approve each action and the German government claims that such cases are in the “low double-digit figures” each year.

According to a 2008 ruling from Germany's constitutional court, these online searches can only be carried out if there is considered to be a risk to human life or the state.

When it comes to property raids, searches currently require a court warrant and must be done openly and in the presence of the suspect.

In January 2024, before the Solingen attack, Faeser had already extended police powers for searching the homes of people who had had their asylum applications denied, so that deportations could be processed more easily.

Amnesty International has raised concerns over whether the new legislation breaches fundamental rights, European and international law.

In 2017, the Merkel government also increased the powers of the Bundesnachrichtendiesnt (BDN), Germany’s foreign intelligence agency. Since the law change, the agency has come under fire for surveilling the correspondence of other groups, such as climate activists and foreign journalists.

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