A litte digression, how public inquiry in Germany works:
As long as a possible perpetrator has not been convicted by a court, he is initially considered a suspect. In order to protect personal rights, attempts are made to first resort to milder instruments, for example an internal police search or the evaluation of surveillance material. A hasty image search would on the one hand cause public unrest and on the other hand could have fatal consequences for a suspect who turns out to be innocent. If the police finally comes to a point in the investigation where they cannot make progress on a case on their own, they can ask the public prosecutor to carry out a public search. The investigative authorities must therefore first exhaust other investigative approaches available to them before resorting to the public search Instrument.
Section 131b of the Code of Criminal Procedure (StPO) describes the requirements that must be met for the approval of the public prosecutor's office:
"(1) The publication of images of an accused who is suspected of a criminal offense of considerable importance is also permitted if the investigation of a criminal offense, in particular the establishment of the identity of an unknown perpetrator, would otherwise be considerably less promising or much more difficult.
(2) The publication of images of a witness and references to the criminal proceedings on which the publication is based are also permitted if the investigation of a criminal offense of considerable importance, in particular the establishment of the witness's identity, would otherwise be futile or significantly more difficult. The publication must make it clear that the person depicted is not the accused."
If the police sends an investigation file to the public prosecutor's office, they first check whether the criteria for an image search are met. If this is the case, the public search is requested directly from the public prosecutor at the district court. Then the court judges and the application goes back the same way: The district court communicates its decision to the public prosecutor, who in turn informs the police authorities. As soon as the judge's decision has been made, appropriate media information is drawn up in coordination between the public prosecutor and the police and published - usually via the police press office.
According to Paragraph 131b of the Code of Criminal Procedure, not all investigative attempts have to have failed before investigators can go public with photos. The urgency and gravity of the offense are crucial. In the case of simple theft, for example, the catalog of criminal offenses does not allow a public manhunt to be initiated with pictures. On the other hand, if the crime is considered particularly serious, other rules apply. The authority to issue orders rests in principle with the investigating judge; in the event of imminent danger, the public prosecutor's office may also issue the order.
So in that case, prosecuters got the legal permission by a german court to go that way. They haven't anything to fear. The solicitors would have to appeal against the court decision, that gave permission to that public inquiry. Did they? IMO not.
If the case against CB will be dismissed, Maybe they will try to force a compensation. That will be a long hard way, due to the curts decision, a public inquiry in that case was legal. If the case faces a courtroom, an appeal would likely be made according to the claim of a possible breach of the fair-trial-principle. Even that would be long hard way, because the public inquiry resists on a court rule and decisions of courts usually got limited verifiability.
worth a try
