Auf dem Weg zu einem neuen „Musterpolizeigesetz“

Police Law in Germany currently faces diverse challenges. The consensus regarding its basics in legal dogma dwindles, the adjustment pressure is rising, the legal regulations in the German federal states are drifting apart, and the population‘s acceptance of police acts decreases in a worrying way. As a part of a solution strategy, a standardization of Police Acts is currently being discussed; as its basis, a “Template Police Act” may serve. Such templates have been drafted in the 1970s, and a working group, set up by a subcommittee of the German Conference of the Ministers of the Interior, is drawing up a new template act. This template act can be used as a “toolbox” for the legislators in the German federal states after its publication. This article delineates the current challenges and problems, describes the history of the “Template Police Acts”, discusses the criticism against “template legislation” and provides an insight into the work process based on four short examples.