Germany’s highest court overturns a reform that allowed for new trials after acquittals

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s highest court has overturned a reform to the country’s criminal code that allowed for people who have been acquitted to be put on trial again for the same crime if new evidence emerged that could secure their conviction for murder or other serious crimes. The Federal Constitutional Court on Tuesday declared the change, which took effect in December 2021, null and void. It had considered a challenge by a man who was acquitted of raping and killing a 17-year-old girl in the 1980s and faced new proceedings after an examination of DNA traces. It found that the provision violated both a constitutional clause that precludes anyone being “punished for the same crime more than once” and a ban on applying the law retroactively.