The German Bundestag has approved legislation under which it is a crime to capture fatal accident victims. The new regulations complement the law adopted 3 years ago.
Pursuant to the law adopted by the Bundestag, photographing or recording fatalities will be treated as a criminal offence (201 a StGB – German Criminal Code) in order to protect the privacy of the dead persons. This will be punished with a fine (up to €1,000) and a prison sentence of up to two years.
Until now, such regulations covered only recording of survivors.
The problem of the onlookers, who not only violate the privacy of the victims, but also very often interfere with the operations of the emergency services at the accident site, was noticed in Germany 3 years ago. In May 2017, regulations were introduced under which recording or photographing the place of an accident and the victims (living) are treated as a crime. Importantly, it does not matter whether the recording or the photos have been published. The very fact of taking them is punished. They are subject to the same punishment as for the aforementioned recording of casualties.
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