Federal Constitutional Court · 30 September 2025 · 2 BvR 460/25
Police arrived at a Berlin hostel to transfer a resident to Italy. They heard a sound behind a locked door and forced it open. Two people shared the room. Officers had no judicial search warrant. The man challenged what had happened inside his living space.
Why the doorway mattered
The constitutional question turned on what officers knew before they opened the door. They did not know whether the man was there or where to find him. Finding him quickly afterwards could not turn the operation into a simple entry. The room was protected as his home under Article 13 of the Basic Law.
What the resident gained
The Constitutional Court expressly found that the search violated his right. It quashed the Berlin-Brandenburg higher administrative court’s judgment and returned the case to that court. The decision dealt with how police found him and gave no ruling on an entitlement to stay in Germany.
Reading the factual record
The status of the accommodation, the purpose of the entry, the officers’ prior information and the existence of a warrant were distinct questions. A dispute about the search can therefore remain meaningful even after the removal operation.
