German minister slams plan to give police extra search powers

German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann on Thursday said he opposes Interior Minister Nancy Faeser's plans to give the police additional search powers in a draft security bill, reported dpa.

"As Justice Minister, I reject such ideas," Buschmann said in comments to the Bild newspaper. "If anyone were to seriously propose this, such a proposal would neither pass the cabinet nor gain a majority in parliament," he added.

Details of the draft bill emerged on Wednesday, suggesting Faeser is advocating for criminal police to be given the power to conduct covert house searches in certain cases.

The bill, which is being discussed by the German government, would allow officers from Germany's Criminal Police Office (BKA) to search houses covertly in the case of a "concrete threat of a terrorist attack."

The BKA search would require a court order and only be permitted if it were the only method of averting an imminent danger without seriously jeopardizing the success of a criminal investigation, the bill says.

The bill would amend existing legislation and also includes new authorizations for the evaluation and comparison of images, including with the help of artificial intelligence (AI).

On Wednesday, an Interior Ministry spokeswoman said that the bill did not allow for "real-time surveillance and real-time facial recognition in public spaces."