Crimmigration: The Interlinking of Criminal and Migration Law with Particular Regard to Pre-Crime Law for “Potential Attackers”

Abstract

This paper deals with the merging of criminal law and migration law (crimmigration). It applies the international debate to the German legal context (Krimmigration). Criminal law and migration law are constructed like two separate parts of a puzzle that can be easily pieced together. Police law also plays a vital role in enabling Krimmigration to become active in practice. As a result, migration law measures not only serve as an asset to punishment in the case of convicted foreigners, they also completely change the character of penal law as it applies to such offenders. An important example is the effect terminated criminal proceedings have on migration law decisions. As many migration law measures do not warrant a criminal conviction by a court because no presumption of innocence is in place, it is often possible for a person to be deported solely on the basis of police data. After the deportation has taken place, the penal proceedings will be terminated. The foreign national will not be able to challenge the termination of proceedings because, from a legal perspective, this action is seen simply to benefit the person in question. This raises the possibility of using any kind of investigative powers permitted under the code of criminal procedure; the findings gained from such actions then fuel police suspicion and are also used as the basis for severe intrusions into the rights of foreign nationals, without this information ever being.