“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 convicted of murdering his wife and sentenced to life imprisonment. Legal experts from the Max Planck Institute break down the challenges of applying the German murder provision and explain why an autonomous criminal offense of femicide could provide clarity.

Following his recent trial at the Freiburg District Court, the defendant, a resident of the southern Black Forest, was convicted of murdering his wife and sentenced to life imprisonment. The court found that the murder criterion of base motive was fulfilled. Initially, however, the man had “only” been charged with manslaughter. 

According to Konstanze Jarvers and Cristina Valega, manslaughter charges in such cases are 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 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 a single case of femicide that had been classified as murder from the outset. She notes: “A severe crime should be punished severely—it’s all about proportionality.” German courts tend to take a traditional patriarchal approach when analyzing the motives behind such crimes. For example, if a woman cheated on her partner before she was killed, judges are reluctant to attribute base motives to the perpetrator, as the victim’s behavior may be seen as having contributed to the crime against her. Jarvers sees numerous “flaws” in the murder provision, Section 211 of the German Criminal Code. One possible solution would be to add femicide, formulated in objective terms, to the list of qualifying criteria of murder. In Germany, the term femicide has no relevance in court. A number of Latin American countries, however, have already introduced femicide as an autonomous criminal offense. 

Jarver’s colleague Cristina Valega Chipoco, originally from Peru, is familiar with the legal situation throughout Latin America. German criminal law should be reformed so as to recognize discriminatory contexts as aggravating factors in sentencing, she tells the BZ— “for example, if someone is killed on the grounds of their identity, 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.