Here we provide you with important information and further references to areas in which we cannot advise and support you.
We are happy to help you as best we can. The basis of our work and advice is the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG). However, the AGG does not protect against all discrimination, but only in working life and in certain private legal transactions (so-called mass transactions). As a result, there are legal limits to what we can do, so unfortunately we cannot provide you with specific advice or take action on your behalf in other areas of life.
For example, the AGG does not apply to discrimination by public offices and authorities or to discriminatory statements made by strangers on the street or in social media. In the following, we will show you what options you still have in such cases and how you can proceed.
Experiencing discrimination by public offices
and authorities
State activity
Around 16 procent of enquiries to the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency are from people who experienced discrimination when dealing with offices and public authorities, for instance at job centres, registry offices or by judiciary bodies.
In many cases, these complaints concern laws and/or their application, which those affected consider discriminatory. Typical examples include the refusal of statutory health insurance providers to cover the costs of fertility treatment for married lesbian couples or the unequal treatment of nationals of non-EU countries when it comes to realising their participation rights.
However, discrimination can also be practised by individual employees of public offices and authorities.
Examples include the refusal of retraining measures by an employment agency or a job centre because of the applicant’s age, people who are treated worse than others or verbally abused on grounds of racism, or trans*gender people whom the staff of public authorities do not refer to by their desired gender.
Discrimination also includes a lack of accessibility that hinders access to public authorities and/or their services.
Another recurring theme is racial profiling. For instance, the Federal Anti-discrimination Agency often receives requests for consultation by people reporting that because of their name or skin colour, they were targeted by the police for an identity check as the only person among many others.
Those affected also report cases of discrimination in court – such as when as a result of custody proceedings before the family court, a trans* woman is granted the right of access to her child only on condition that she wears male clothing when seeing the child.
Pursuant to Article 3 of the Basic Law (GG), discrimination in the context of State activity is generally prohibited. Further anti-discrimination rules can also be found in the legislation of each individual Federal Land as well as in specific Federal and Land laws. As the first Federal Land ever, Berlin adopted a Land Anti-Discrimination Act that is binding for all public administration agencies as well as all other public bodies of the Federal Land of Berlin. However, the broader protection by the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) does not apply in these cases. Here, the protection from discrimination afforded by the AGG needs to be expanded to also cover the State sector, and the protection from discrimination has to be strengthened by the Federal Länder adopting anti-discrimination laws.
The Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency offers a series of studies and legal assessments on these topics.
Even though the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) does not apply to this setting, there are still ways to defend yourself against discriminatory incidents.
If you wish for the conduct of someone working in public administration to be examined, you can lodge an official disciplinary complaint.
What is an official disciplinary complaint?
Citizens can lodge an official disciplinary complaint to defend themselves against the misconduct of individual public service employees, including, for instance, job centre or police staff. There are no formal requirements or time limits to be observed. The official disciplinary complaint is submitted to the supervisory authority. That is the public authority employing the person who showed the discriminatory conduct. The official disciplinary complaint must be received and reviewed by the competent body. If it recognizes the criticism, it can take measures such as disciplinary action to modify the employee’s conduct.
If you would like to lodge an official disciplinary complaint, you can fill in and submit this template:
If you feel discriminated against by a notice or a public authority’s decision, you can assert your rights by way of objection and/or court proceedings. Thus, the legitimacy of the notice or the public authority’s decision is ultimately assessed by the competent independent courts. Legal time limits apply for both the objection and court proceedings, of which you are usually informed in your notice. You should seek legal advice as early as possible after having received the notice or public authority’s decision to make sure you observe these deadlines.
In addition, you can lodge a constitutional complaint against a legal regulation with the Federal Constitutional Court if you feel directly discriminated against by the law, i.e. without it having been applied to you by any authority? However, the requirements for substantiating a constitutional complaint are high.
If you feel discriminated against by the conduct of staff at a job centre, employment agency or family benefits office, you can lodge an official disciplinary complaint. Click here for further information on this topic.
In addition to the above-mentioned legal options, you also have the possibility to complain via the Federal Employment Agency’s customer reaction management process. You can find more information here.
Moreover, ombuds offices have been set up at many job centres to resolve conflicts. For further advice on this topic, please check the information provided on the website of your job centre.
Should you require assistance in asserting claims under the German Social Code, there are special consultation agencies you can turn to:
If you feel discriminated against by a decision of your statutory health or pension insurance provider or the conduct of its staff, you can address your complaint to the Federal Office for Social Security. Click here for further information.
Should you require assistance in asserting claims under the German Social Code, there are special consultation agencies you can turn to.
If you feel discriminated against in the context of the obligation to pay the Licence Fee, you can complain to the contribution service of ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio. Click here for further information.
If it turns out that your responsible examiner did not sufficiently respect the prohibition of discrimination pursuant to Art. 3 (3) of the Basic Law, his/her recognition may, under certain preconditions, be withdrawn (section 8 (1) Act on officially approved experts and officially approved inspectors of motor vehicle traffic (Gesetz über amtlich anerkannte Sachverständige und amtlich anerkannte Prüfer für den Kraftfahrzeugverkehr – KfSachvG).
If the driver licensing authority becomes aware of any signs suggesting reduced fitness to drive – e.g. because of a disability – it is obligated to take appropriate steps to examine the matter. This is often done by way of an assessment. Such an assessment usually implies specific charges that can be a particular burden for people with disabilities. If the prerequisites of section 5 (6) of the Scale of Fees and Charges for Road Traffic Related Services (Gebührenordnung für Maßnahmen im Straßenverkehr – GebOSt) apply, people with a physical impairment may, upon request, be granted a reduction of or exemption from fees for reasons of equity.
If you feel discriminated against by the conduct of employees or by a decision of a penal institution, there are various options for you to assert your rights within the institution itself. You can also take legal action.
First of all, you have the right to complain to the head of the institution to seek an amicable solution to the conflict (section 108 of the Prison Act - StVollzG). If this does not help, you can also turn to the competent supervisory authority. In accordance with section 151 of the Prison Act, supervision over the penal institutions is generally exercised by the Land Judicial Administrations. Therefore, it might be helpful to contact the body within your Land government that is responsible for the supervision over your penal institution for support. If you do not know that body, the Head of the penal institution can provide this information to you.
In addition, you can lodge an official disciplinary complaint. You can also contest a discriminatory measure of the penal institution by applying for a court ruling (Section 109 of the Prison Act). In some Federal Länder, this must be preceded by objection proceedings. The time limits to be observed in this context may be very short. Should you consider this path of action, it is therefore recommendable to seek legal advice as early as possible.
If the matter concerns the contents of a prisoner’s personal file, it is a matter of penitentiary (Prison Act) as well as data protection law. The data protection aspects are mainly regulated by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which the Prison Act refers to. Therefore, you can also turn to your competent Land Data Protection Officer.
If you currently lack the necessary income or property to finance consultation by a lawyer, you can apply for a certificate of eligibility for advisory assistance with the municipal court responsible for your place of residence. The requirements for this certificate sometimes include a failed attempt on your part to resolve the matter with the other party. With the advisory assistance certificate, you are then entitled to consult a lawyer of your choosing.
Discrimination by the police and the justice system
Frequently Asked Questions
If you feel discriminated against by a judicial act or decision, the law provides several means to seek legal protection. You can, for instance, lodge an official disciplinary complaint with the competent body within the judicial administration to have a judge’s conduct examined. To request a review of a court’s ruling such as a specific court decision, you can appeal the decision in question.
What is an official disciplinary complaint?
Citizens can lodge an official disciplinary complaint to defend themselves against the misconduct of individual public service employees, including, for instance, job centre or police staff. There are no formal requirements or time limits to be observed. The official disciplinary complaint is submitted to the supervisory authority. That is the public authority employing the person who showed the discriminatory conduct. The official disciplinary complaint must be received and reviewed by the competent body. If it recognizes the criticism, it can take measures such as disciplinary action to modify the employee’s conduct.
If you wish to lodge an official disciplinary complaint, you can fill in and submit this template:
If possible, write down the name(s) and department of the official(s) in question as well as the incident and all the circumstances around it as accurately as possible, and talk to potential witnesses in order to be able to take action against the discrimination later on. You can do this, for instance, by lodging an official disciplinary complaint.
What is an official disciplinary complaint?
Citizens can lodge an official disciplinary complaint to defend themselves against the misconduct of individual public service employees, including, for instance, job centre or police staff. There are no formal requirements or time limits to be observed. The official disciplinary complaint is submitted to the supervisory authority. That is the public authority employing the person who showed the discriminatory conduct. The official disciplinary complaint must be received and reviewed by the competent body. If it recognizes the criticism, it can take measures such as disciplinary action to modify the employee’s conduct.
If you wish to lodge an official disciplinary complaint, you can fill in and submit this template:
In some Federal Länder, there are also Independent Police Commissioners and/or complaints offices which you can contact.
If you feel discriminated against by police action, such as in the context of house searches or identity checks, you have all the options set out under question 3 above.
In addition, you can take legal action against the measure. In this case, the administrative courts will retrospectively review the police action to determine whether it was unlawful. If the courts find that the conduct constituted a breach of official duty, you might, under specific circumstances, also be entitled to claim damages under civil law.
If you currently lack the necessary income or assets to pay for legal advice, you can apply for a certificate of eligibility for advisory assistance with the municipal court responsible for your place of residence. The requirements for this certificate sometimes include a failed attempt on your part to resolve the matter with the other party. With the advisory assistance certificate, you are then entitled to consult a lawyer of your choosing.
At a state-run school, the laws – and especially the school laws – of your Federal Land protect your child from discriminatory and unlawful behaviour. Click here for an overview of this topic (only in German).
At a state-run school, you can contact the school’s head teacher. If the problem is not dealt with, you can lodge an official disciplinary complaint or a complaint with the school inspection authority or your Federal Land’s Ministry of Education.
What is an official disciplinary complaint?
Citizens can lodge an official disciplinary complaint to defend themselves against the misconduct of individual public service employees. There are no formal requirements or time limits to be observed. The official disciplinary complaint is submitted to the supervisory authority. That is the public authority employing the person who showed the discriminatory conduct. The official disciplinary complaint must be received and reviewed by the competent body. If it recognizes the criticism, it can take measures such as disciplinary action to modify the employee’s conduct.
If you wish to lodge an official disciplinary complaint, you can fill in and submit this template:
At a private school, your child is protected from discrimination under the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG). We are happy to advise you on this topic. To get in touch, please use our contact form or write an email to: beratung@ads.bund.de
In addition, there might be consultation agencies or other contact points in your Federal Land you can turn to, which are specialised in discrimination in the school setting: Click here for contact information (only in German).
In case of discrimination on account of a disability, you have the option to contact a centre of expertise for inclusion in education. You can also receive support from the EUTB participation counselling agency (https://www.teilhabeberatung.de) or from one of the counselling services of the Complementary Independent Participation Counselling
(https://www.teilhabeberatung.de/beratung/beratungsangebote-der-eutb).
For instances of discrimination against trans* pupils, we have compiled the following information:
Information on the situation of trans* children at school before officially (legally) changing their first name:
If your child is discriminated against by a formal decision of a state-run school by means of official notice – such as when the pupil is expelled from school or not moved to the next grade – you can assert your child’s rights by filing an objection and/or by taking legal action. Thus, the legitimacy and proportionality of the decision are ultimately assessed by the competent independent courts. Legal time limits apply for both the objection and court proceedings, of which you are usually informed in your notice. Therefore, you should seek legal advice as early as possible after having received the notice.
If your child experiences discrimination and bullying by other pupils at school, in addition to interventions by the school, your child might find it helpful to seek support from an agency specialised in providing counselling for bullying. Children and adolescents as well as their parents can also find support at the www.nummergegenkummer.de website.
In addition, you can find psychological or youth counselling services at https://www.dajeb.de/.
Discriminatory statements in the public sphere, in the media and on the internet
Governmental as well as non-Governmental anti-discrimination agencies often receive enquiries from people who have experienced discrimination in public and recreational settings, such as hostility on public transport or in sports associations.
Those affected report myriad forms of discrimination in public and recreational settings, in the media and on the internet. These can include a slur on the street because of one’s sexual orientation, exclusion from a fishing association because of age, hate speech on the internet because of a photo of oneself wearing a headscarf or disparaging remarks about people with disabilities in movies.
Even though the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) does not apply to these areas of life, there are still ways to stand up against discriminatory incidents that occur on the street, in an association or on a website. Depending on the case at hand, these can include filing charges, entering into a mediation process or involving a special complaints office.
Discriminatory statements and content
According to the Network Enforcement Act (Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz), if the content is posted on a social media platform, you can report the case to the platform in question and lodge a complaint. Social network providers are obligated to take note of the complaint immediately and to assess whether the content reported in the complaint is unlawful and needs to be deleted or blocked. Content is unlawful particularly if it is punishable under criminal law, e.g. insults.
If an online platform violates the provisions of the Network Enforcement Act, it can under certain preconditions be ordered to pay a fine. The Federal Office of Justice is responsible for imposing such fines. You can find further information on this topic on the Federal Office of Justice’s Website.
You can also confidentially report illegal content to the complaints portal.
For further interesting information on possible options to take action against hate speech, refer to the website of the Robert Bosch Stiftung.
People who have experienced hate on the internet can receive individual counselling from the Hate Aid organisation.
You can take action against discriminatory media content by lodging a complaint. If your complaint concerns print media content, you can turn to the German Press Council. In case of discriminatory TV or radio content not broadcast by ZDF, you can lodge a complaint about the programme in question with the Land media authorities. For complaints about the ZDF’s programmes, you can turn to the ZDF Television Council.
If you feel discriminated against because a media service is not accessible, the responsible body is the central contact point for accessible services (zentrale Anlaufstelle für barrierefreie Angebote – ZABA). The prerequisite is, however, that your complaint concerns accessibility of public-service media as well as private broadcasters and audio-visual media that fall within the responsibility of the Land media authorities.
The constitutionally protected freedoms of press, expression and art are to be taken into account when assessing media content. So, the final decision on these matters must lie with the courts.
If the discriminatory action might constitute a criminal offence (such as incitement of masses, pursuant to section 130 of the German Criminal Code), you can report the case to the police, the public prosecutor’s office or the municipal court for further examination.
The German Advertising Standards Council is responsible for self-regulation in commercial advertising. You can lodge a complaint. The website also provides an overview of the complaints procedure and informs about the reprimands the Council has issued thus far.
Sexist advertisements can be reported to Pinkstinks. Pinkstinks is an organisation that calls out against sexism and homophobia.
In cases of discrimination in the public sphere – be it on the street, on a subway platform or in a park – your only option generally is to have the authorities examine whether the action is punishable under criminal law. The prerequisite is that the discriminatory action is to be considered a criminal offence. A severely discriminatory statement might constitute an insult that is punishable under Criminal Law. In case of an insult, you can file a request to prosecute with the police or the public prosecutor’s office. However, you have to do so within three months of the event.
The success of the criminal proceedings often depends on whether there is sufficient evidence. Therefore, if you are involved in such an incident, try to talk to other people near you. Ask others to help you so that there are people who can testify to the incident.
Cookies help us to provide our services. By using our website you agree that we can use cookies. Read more about our Privacy Policy and visit the following link: Privacy Policy
