Luise murder case: civil court orders perpetrators to pay 125,000 euros in damages
The Koblenz regional court awarded Luise's family 125,000 euros in damages – despite the perpetrators being below the age of criminal responsibility. An unprecedented ruling in Germany.
Civil judgement in Luise case: 125,000 euros in damages despite lack of criminal responsibility
The Koblenz Regional Court ordered two girls on 29 May 2026 to pay a total of 125,000 euros in damages for the killing of twelve-year-old Luise in March 2023. According to lto.de, this was a civil law proceeding, as the perpetrators could not be prosecuted under criminal law: they were 12 and 13 years old at the time of the offence.
The presiding judge described the act as "a treacherous murder committed from base motives, which leaves the chamber aghast". The two girls are said to have lured Luise to a wooded area near Friesenhagen on 11 March 2023 under the pretext of a surprise. According to the judgement, they first attempted to strangle her with a plastic bag before stabbing her 74 times with a knife. Both girls confessed to the act.
Criminal law: lack of criminal responsibility below age 14
No criminal trial against the two took place. Under section 19 of the German Criminal Code, a person is deemed to lack criminal responsibility if they had not reached the age of 14 at the time of the offence. This age threshold is a normative legislative decision that leaves no room for individual case assessments. The reasoning is that children cannot yet sufficiently understand when they are doing wrong and cannot accordingly control their behaviour. Instead of punishment, education, youth welfare and youth institutions are meant to apply. According to lto.de, whether this regulation is still appropriate remains contested – recently there have been renewed policy initiatives to reopen the debate.
Civil law: individual capacity for insight decisive
Different standards apply in civil law. Section 828(3) of the German Civil Code regulates the tort liability of minors between seven and 18 years of age. What is decisive is not a fixed age limit, but the individual capacity for insight at the time of the offence – that is, whether the person understood what they were doing and what responsibility came with it.
The Koblenz Regional Court found that both girls possessed this capacity for insight. A court spokesperson told lto.de that capacity for insight was undisputed in the proceedings. What was particularly significant was the advanced age of the perpetrators.
Composition of the damages award
The court based the damages claim on sections 823(1) and 253(2) of the German Civil Code. The 125,000 euros are composed as follows: 85,000 euros for the suffering of the parents and sister, and 40,000 euros for the suffering of the victim themselves. This claim was inherited by the parents in accordance with sections 1922(1) and 1925(2) of the German Civil Code. The court was guided by a Federal Court of Justice decision on shock damages of 6 December 2022 (case number VI ZR 168/21).
In addition, the court awarded the family damages for legal costs of approximately 4,000 euros and funeral costs of approximately 15,000 euros, based on sections 823(1) and 844(1) of the German Civil Code.
The two perpetrators are jointly and severally liable in accordance with sections 830(1) sentence 1 and 840(1) of the German Civil Code – they are personally obliged to pay. Liability of the parents under section 832 of the German Civil Code would only have been considered in the event of a breach of supervisory duty; according to SWR, this was not the subject of these proceedings.
The judgement is not yet final.
Family: "Clear sign that the rule of law works"
Jochen Alfes, the family's lawyer, told media representatives that his clients were "entirely satisfied" with the judgement. Luise's parents and sister had been traumatised by the act and were in treatment. "For the claimants it is enormously important, because they were completely desperate when we heard: the perpetrators are not criminally responsible and there is nothing to be done", Alfes said. The judgement was a clear sign that the rule of law worked.
According to lto.de, a civil law judgement of this scale against violent perpetrators under 14 years of age has not previously become known in Germany.
Source: Google News DE — Crime (de)