IHK-Certified Specialist Detectives in Frankfurt

Our Frankfurt detectives are IHK-certified specialists and, in line with their qualifications, conduct admissible and discreet investigations. Below you will find some important information about the detective profession in Germany, clearing up a number of clichés and half-truths.

Prerequisites for the Profession of Detective

Detective agencies such as Kurtz Investigations Frankfurt constitute a trade under section 14 of the German Trade Regulation Act (GewO). Unfortunately, no specific professional qualification is required in Germany. All that is needed is the registration of the business and personal suitability, which, among other things, includes a clean criminal record. However, professional qualifications such as the IHK certificate "Fachkraft Detektiv" or many years of experience working for law enforcement authorities should also be part of that suitability.

Professional training and development is likewise not tied to statutory requirements; each detective pursues further education on a voluntary basis, which is why professional knowledge in the industry varies widely.

The supervision of detective agencies by state institutions is set out in section 35 GewO: a trade may be prohibited if the unreliability of a detective is proven by facts.

Legal Powers of Detectives

Various TV programmes create the impression that detectives have special powers or even routinely carry weapons – this is a misconception. Detectives, including the private investigators of Kurtz Detective Agency Frankfurt and Hesse, do not possess special rights; such rights are largely reserved for state authorities such as customs, the police or the public prosecution office. The powers of detectives derive essentially from the so-called rights of every citizen. These general rights are explained briefly below. There are powers relevant to both criminal law and civil law.

Relevant Powers of Detectives under Criminal Law

Section 32 StGB (German Criminal Code) – Self-Defence
Self-defence is the defence required to avert a present unlawful attack on oneself or another person.

Section 34 StGB – Justifying Necessity
A person who commits an act (for example taking someone else’s movable property) in order to avert an imminent, otherwise unavoidable danger to life, limb, liberty, honour or property of themselves or another person does not act unlawfully, provided the act is an appropriate means of averting the danger.

Relevant Powers of Detectives under Civil Law

Civil law also provides the concepts of self-defence and necessity. These are listed in section 227 et seq. of the German Civil Code (BGB). Also relevant for the private and commercial investigators of Kurtz Investigations Frankfurt:

Section 229 BGB – Self-Help
A person who, for the purpose of self-help, takes, destroys or damages an item, or who detains an obligor suspected of fleeing, or overcomes the obligor’s resistance against an action they are obliged to tolerate, does not act unlawfully if official assistance cannot be obtained in time and, without immediate intervention, there is a risk that enforcement of the claim would be frustrated or substantially impeded.

Furthermore, detectives – just like any other citizen – may make a provisional arrest under section 127 of the German Code of Criminal Procedure (StPO) if an offender is caught in the act, if identification cannot be established or not otherwise established, and if police assistance is not immediately available.