German coalition weighs decriminalizing public transport fare-dodging

Fare-dodging on German public transport should be decriminalized to ease the burden on the courts and prisons, Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig has said in remarks reported by Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung newspaper.

Hubig, a member of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), pointed to capacity problems in courts and prisons and queried whether people unable to afford fares really belonged in prison.

She noted that Chancellor Friedrich Merz's broad coalition had agreed on a modernization of the criminal code with a view to eliminating superfluous rules and said this issue should be taken up in that modernization.

Current law imposes a fine or prison sentence, with those unable to pay fines facing prison.

The German Bar Association (DAV) called for decriminalization, with DAV spokesman Swen Walentowski telling the newspaper that the social utility of the current law was dubious and the harm it inflicted on public good immense. The DAV puts the annual cost of implementation at €200 million ($231 million).

But the GdP police union expressed opposition, with spokesman Andreas Roßkopf telling the Rheinische Post newspaper that fraudulent use of services had to remain a crime, or the door would be opened to fare-dodgers. He noted that on occasion the amounts involved could reach up to hundreds of euros.

Günter Krings of Merz's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) said the topic had been discussed in the coalition talks following the elections in February last year and that the conservative parties were opposed to decriminalization, as this would merely drive up fares for honest travellers.