Want to call a German a 'moron'? Think twice!

Publicly insulting people is a crime in Germany. Calling a politician a bad name could land you in jail.

Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash

Dear Reader,

Fun fact: call someone a ‘moron’ in Germany and you could, theoretically, end up in jail.

In the German criminal code, there is a whole category of crimes called Ehrdelikte - crimes of honour - which include everything from spreading lies about another person to merely insulting them.

This is quite different to countries with common law (like England or the US) where libel and slander are matters for civil courts.

In Germany, Verleumdung (libel) and üble Nachrede (slander) are crimes that are investigated by prosecutors. This puts insane stress on the poor prosecution services, who are stretched to the limit as it is.

But it gets even crazier. There is a lower level of honour crime in Germany that has no equivalent in the Anglosphere. The crime of Beleidigung (insult) comes with a maximum penalty of two years in jail, although perpetrators normally escape with a fine.

Far from being a dusty relic that only exists on the statute books, Beleidigun…