Bundestag raises the minimum sentence for rape or robbery using knockout drops to five years

Germany's Bundestag passed a government bill (Drucksache 21/7560, in the Legal Affairs Committee's version, 21/8947) on 6 November 2026 that adds dangerous "means" (Mittel), such as knockout drops, to the weapons and dangerous tools listed in the aggravated forms of rape and robbery in the Criminal Code, sections 177(8) and 250(2). Rape or robbery committed this way would carry a minimum of five years instead of three, up to 15 years. The bill responds to a Federal Court of Justice ruling of 8 October 2024 that knockout drops secretly added to a drink were not a dangerous tool. CDU/CSU, SPD, the Left and the Greens voted in favour, and the AfD abstained. SPD MP Sonja Eichwede said in the debate: "We are closing the gap. We say: one drop, five years!"

According to Legal Tribune Online, the victims' groups Weisser Ring and Kein Opfer called the change symbolic politics, and the Federal Bar and the German Lawyers' Association disputed that there was a gap, since 15 years was already available. The German Judges' Association called the change appropriate but said the risk of being caught and convicted deters more than the sentence. The case tests a familiar trade-off between higher penalties and investment in detection. The Bundesrat stage and date of entry into force have not been checked.