“The German murder provision is flawed”

Researchers explain the legal pitfalls of a recent femicide case

At Freiburg District Court, a man originally charged with manslaughter was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife. Legal experts from the Max Planck Institute break down the challenges of applying the German murder provision and explain why a separate criminal offense for femicide could provide clarity.

A recent trial at the Freiburg District Court resulted in the defendant, a resident of the southern Black Forest, being sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife. The court found that the murder criterion of base motive was fulfilled. However, the man had initially “only” been charged with manslaughter.

According to Konstanze Jarvers and Cristina Valega, charging criminal offenders with the lesser offense of manslaughter is not uncommon. The two experts are conducting research into femicide at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law. Femicide refers to the killings of girls and women because of their gender.

Jarvers said in an interview with the daily newspaper “Badische Zeitung” (BZ) that she could not recall any femicide cases that had actually been classified as murders from the outset. She notes: “A severe crime should be punished severely—it’s all about proportionality.” German courts tend to see the wrong motives behind such crimes. For example, if a woman has cheated on her partner, judges are reluctant to assume base motives on the part of the perpetrator, as the victim’s behavior may be seen as having contributed to the crime against her.

Jarvers detects “flaws” throughout Section 211 of the German Criminal Code. One possible solution would be to define a corresponding qualifying element of murder for femicide, meaningfully formulated in objective language. In Germany, the term femicide has no relevance in court. A number of Latin American countries, however, have already introduced femicide as a separate criminal offense.

Jarver’s colleague Cristina Valega Chipoco is Peruvian, and she is familiar with the legal situation in both Germany and Latin America. German criminal law should be reformed to explicitly recognize discriminatory motives as aggravating factors in sentencing, she tells the BZ— “for example, if someone is killed because of their identity, because of their gender, their nationality, or their disability.” At the same time, Valega Chipoco emphasizes the importance of prevention, which can be achieved primarily through education.

Download the interview (in German) published on 5 July 2025 in “Badische Zeitung” and on 6 July 2025 in “Der Sonntag” (page 3) here.

The Criminalization of Femicide: A Comparative Legal Perspective

A research project at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law is investigating and comparing the legal situation in eleven countries in Europe and the Americas. The three Max Planck researchers Konstanze Jarvers, Emily Silverman, and Cristina Valega Chipoco want to find out which criminal offense definitions and sentencing rules are most effective and whether it could be helpful to introduce a separate criminal offense of femicide. A network of country rapporteurs is supporting the three legal scholars. The findings should be available in 2026.