Prisoners in Germany have no legal right to internet access. The Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court decided. An inmate from Freiburg who wanted a tablet had complained.
Verdict: Detainees not entitled to internet
According to the Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court, prison inmates in Germany must remain offline when in doubt. A legal right to internet access would not exist in this country, as the court judged. The decision is final.
A prisoner in the Freiburg prison had filed a lawsuit because he was denied access to the Internet. He would like to have a tablet that could be handed to him from a “safe, trusted source”. The court in Karlsruhe sees the matter differently and has the Detainee’s complaint dismissed.
The reasoning behind the judgment states that computers and similar devices must remain prohibited because of their storage capacity. You would be able to endanger security and order in a correctional facility. Control measures by the respective prison are not reasonable (source: Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court).
That Freedom of information argument According to the court, this does not apply to Internet access. According to the Basic Law and the European Convention on Human Rights, however, prisoners have the opportunity to obtain information via radio and television.
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Internet in prison: Berlin goes its own way
Regardless of the verdict, the state of Berlin partially allows its inmates one restricted access to the internet. A corresponding project was started in one institution on June 1, 2022, and more are to be added in the coming months. The chairman of the Berlin Prison Advisory Board, Olaf Heischel, assumes that the provision of Internet access is helpful for rehabilitation – and thus fulfills an important aspect of the task of the penal system.