Where to find information
The Bundesamt für Justiz publishes the laws and regulations to a the Gesetze im internet website.
The main site is in German, but there are translations available, with the following notice “Translations of these materials into languages other than German are intended solely as a convenience to the non-German-reading public. Any discrepancies or differences that may arise in translations of the official German versions of these materials are not binding and have no legal effect for compliance or enforcement purposes.”
For the English translations please visit this page, it covers the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany.
Your main source for the most up-to-date information should always be the website of the Bundesministerium der Justiz und für Verbraucherschutz.
The site is also available in English and is called “The Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection.”
Federal State, districts and towns
Some laws and regulations are governed by the Federal state, the district or town. For more information visit the official sites of the Federal states, districts or towns
Europol
The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation is the law enforcement agency of the European Union (EU) to handle criminal intelligence and combat serious international organised crime and terrorism through cooperation between competent authorities of EU member states.
Please take note of the notice by Europol regarding scam calls. Europol will never call you directly. There is also a link on their website where you can report such calls
Reporting a crime
In an emergency please use the 110 number to call the police or the 112 number which is the national emergency number. See the links below for a complete list of emergency numbers.
For non-emergencies, call your local police office or visit them. Even petty crimes like scam calls or petty theft should be reported and will be taken seriously by the police
Vocabulary
| Federal criminal police | das Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) |
| Federal police force | die Bundespolizei |
| Every state also has a federal investigation bureau that help solve crimes on state level | das Landeskriminalamt (LKA) |
| State Police | die Landespolizei. Each federal state has their own police force |
| Police force that handles public safety, general law enforcement and traffic enforcement | Schupo / die Schutzpolizei |
| Criminal investigation department | die Kriminalpolizei / Kripo |
| Traffic police | die Autobahnpolizei |
| Emergency number for the police | 110 |
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It is very important that you are aware that according to Section § 323c of the Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch) your are obliged to help a
Disaster preparedness
The Federal office of Civil protection suggests that you keep certain items in your house so that you can be prepared in a disaster situation.Such
Emergency Contacts
The following numbers can be dialed in an emergency, either from a landline or mobile phone. 112 The national emergency number. This can be used