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> Germany's strict laws surrounding "insults", which mean that you can incur a €600 fine for intentionally addressing a police officer using the colloquial form

> Germany's strict laws surrounding "insults", which mean that you can incur a €600 fine for intentionally addressing a police officer using the colloquial form ("du" instead of the more formal "Sie") Do you have a reference on the "du" as insult ever being successfully prosecuted? I can't find anything.

hnbad 5y ago
There are several Google results explicitly calling it an insult: https://www.prigge-recht.de/duzen-sie-niemals-einen-polizisten/ https://www.prigge-recht.de/duzen-sie-niemals-einen-polizist... https://www.helpster.de/polizei-duzen-das-sollten-sie-beachten_119529 https://www.helpster.de/polizei-duzen-das-sollten-sie-beacht... (the first one seems to be written by a legal expert) But it is indeed a bit more complicated as there may be circumstances where "du" could not be considered disrespectful (e.g. if the police officer does it first). There are a lot of Google results about German celebrity Dieter Bohlen winning a legal case by establishing that he uses the colloquial form with everyone and therefore using it on a police officer could not have been an expression of disrespect. But when dealing with police officers, the burden of proof tends to be on the "offender" in practice, so for most people it's probably cheaper to pay a fine than go to court. That said, unless you have the spare change to pay the fee or a legal insurance willing to cover you for this, I simply wouldn't risk it and since most Germans believe there's a crime called "Beamtenbeleidigung" (insulting a public official, which is not a separate crime from the more generic "insult" -- the misconception arises because it's not worth the effort for most people to sue over an ordinary insult) I don't think many people risk it unless they're already being considerably more offensive than merely being a bit disrespectful.

hnbad 5y ago

There are several Google results explicitly calling it an insult: https://www.prigge-recht.de/duzen-sie-niemals-einen-polizisten/ https://www.prigge-recht.de/duzen-sie-niemals-einen-polizist... https://www.helpster.de/polizei-duzen-das-sollten-sie-beachten_119529 https://www.helpster.de/polizei-duzen-das-sollten-sie-beacht... (the first one seems to be written by a legal expert) But it is indeed a bit more complicated as there may be circumstances where "du" could not be considered disrespectful (e.g. if the police officer does it first). There are a lot of Google results about German celebrity Dieter Bohlen winning a legal case by establishing that he uses the colloquial form with everyone and therefore using it on a police officer could not have been an expression of disrespect. But when dealing with police officers, the burden of proof tends to be on the "offender" in practice, so for most people it's probably cheaper to pay a fine than go to court. That said, unless you have the spare change to pay the fee or a legal insurance willing to cover you for this, I simply wouldn't risk it and since most Germans believe there's a crime called "Beamtenbeleidigung" (insulting a public official, which is not a separate crime from the more generic "insult" -- the misconception arises because it's not worth the effort for most people to sue over an ordinary insult) I don't think many people risk it unless they're already being considerably more offensive than merely being a bit disrespectful.