1. Is Investigation a real profession?

The investigative profession is not regulated in Germany at all. There is no official apprenticeship, similar to an estate agent, or financial consultant.

Although the German Investigation associations have tried to get the investigation profession an official profession since the 1980s, the German government have refused to grant official professional rights. Some investigators argue politicians do not like to have public-controlled investigators, as they cannot control them.

Nevertheless investigators contribute an important part to our legal and democratic system, offering everyone an opportunity to get professional investigative support, independent from State Authorities, who are often under political influence.

Many years ago The German Association created the Central Organisation for Investigation Education (ZAD), where young inexperienced people interested in the investigation profession could obtain a two-year apprenticeship to become an investigator.

There are many investigation companies with highly-experienced, long-term investigators from different professions.

However, as in most unregulated professions it is not easy to choose the right supplier so when choosing your investigator, please ask for references, get a personal impression and make sure you have a simple, straight-forward contract.

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2. Has an investigator special rights?

An investigator is a normal citizen and only has certain rights from the code of criminal procedures, the civil code and some other laws just as, a normal citizen has. However an investigator knows the law very well, he knows what is allowed and where the legal borders lie. Investigators are often more successful than the police using creative and clever tactics with their special rights. A private investigator can, for example, operate undercover, which is a complicated proceeding for the police. It is also easier for a PI to get the trust of a witness or source, since he can grant confidentiality more easily. A PI is not a civil servant and is therefore is not obliged to investigate and report any crime, such as a policeman has to, due to Art. 163 of the German code of criminal procedure (§ 163 St PO). The communication with a PI takes place on an equal face-to-face level, whereas the communication with the authority is a subordinate communication, where the authority has the power. You can never be 100% sure what happens with any information you give to an official person, since they are bound by their internal regulations and laws. Despite private investigators not having certain rights, they have a lot of tactical advantages, which a good investigator knows how to use for the benefit of his/her client.


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3. How can you work with the results of the investigators?

You can work with the results of the investigator, for example, in giving the report to your lawyer or taking it into court as evidence. You can also work with our photos and videos as evidence as well. If necessary you can name the investigators as witness in court. However, please remember to ask the investigator first, as he often has to protect his sources.



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4. What risks do you have to bear hiring an investigator?

The risk in hiring an investigator is the same as hiring any other service providers.

4a. Risk of success

You hire an investigator to investigate a case, which is a service contract as per § 611 ff BGB (German civil code). A serious investigator cannot guarantee to solve the case but he can offer to do everything that is possible from the legal point of view using his professional experience.

Serious investigators normally do not work on a ‘no-hit no-fee’ basis. A doctor would never agree to only get paid if he cured you!

Basically that does mean you have to bear the risk of success.

4b. Risk of costs

Since service contracts give some space for interpretation you should check that the terms for payment are outlined clearly. It does not help if the investigator grants you cheap hourly prices in order to win the assignment and then quotes you more from other regulations in the contract, so you end up receiving an unexpected higher invoice.

On the other hand it is not always possible to predict exactly the necessary times, locations and expenses for a certain investigation.

We try to solve this problem with a budget agreement with our clients, in which a maximum budget including expenses is agreed, where we charge the agreed hourly or daily rates. This will protect you from the unexpected.

In complicated cases we try to offer you a project plan in which the content included in the investigation to be conducted is outlined.

4c. Legal risk

You have to bear the legal risk. However, professional investigators will protect you from that risk, conducting the investigation in a way to prevent any legal problems. There is more information on this subject in Question seven.



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5. Will the investigator keep my case confidential?

As opposed to doctors, tax consultants or accountants there is no special law that forces the investigator to keep his cases and client-relationships confidential. We have however written a special confidentiality rule in our terms and conditions and this makes it part of our contract.

We are therefore obliged to keep all information confidential and in the case of the investigator infringing this obligation you would be able to sue him for compensation in court.

If we are working for banks, insurance or lawyers we also sign special contracts to keep inside the rules of those professions.

We know about situations where investigators have blackmailed their clients to publish case information if they refuse to pay the invoice. A serious investigator, in their personal interest would never do so, since a good reputation is worth far more than money.

With regards to confidentiality, you should always carefully choose the right provider for investigation services.

6. Is it possible for me to have impact on my case?

A good investigation company will always grant you the possibility of influencing your case. They will give you regular interim reports to allow you to be able to change the strategic direction or even to stop the case. However the main tactic should be made by the investigator or together with your lawyer, who have both had experience with other comparable cases.

You can stop the case any time you want with us. We will just quote you for all the service up to that time, as per the contract.


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7. Do I have to be afraid that the investigator will be unlawful?

As a client you are normally not responsible for any crimes the investigator may conduct, except when you have directly asked him to do so or expect him to do so. On the other hand you can be at a huge disadvantage, if you cannot make use of the evidence of the investigator, when unlawfully obtained, which may cause you to lose your trial. Therefore it is essential for the investigator to stay within the law. If he ever works in the grey area he has to make sure that no disadvantage will occur to his client.

A serious investigator will always do his very best to stay within the law. However, especially since the Government has not granted professional rights for investigators it is not always easy to do so. For example the European Data Protection law is so complicated that you need to be a professional lawyer to understand all the rules. However, even when an investigator is working in these grey areas, he must always make sure that no disadvantage will occur to his client.


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8. Can I get the investigation costs covered?

Basically it is possible to charge the defendant for the investigation costs if you win the case in court. There are some judgments in German courts that are decided in that way. Some investigation companies publish these judgments on their sites.


However there is no general rule for that. It is always a decision a court makes due to the special situation and certain conditions of your single case.

In all judgments one can have a basic line saying that it was necessary to hire an investigator since there was no other way to get the evidence but providing the evidence is your job!


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9. Can I get legal advice from an investigator?

Giving legal advice is regulated in Germany, as in all other European countries. The German code of law advice outlines that only people who have the second state examination in law, having the qualifications of a judge, are allowed to provide legal advice.


However the stringent law profession regulation is slowly getting deregulated by European law, but even so investigators should not give legal advice. We always recommend contacting a competent lawyer. You will have a very good chance in succeeding if your lawyer has a good relationship with an investigation office..


Investigators just provide tactical and investigative advice. If you ask a legal question to a professional investigator he will always direct you to a lawyer. We in the AXOM Group have excellent connections to national and international law offices.

If you are planning to hire an investigator in a case where you have already hired a lawyer, we recommend asking them co-ordinate the work. The best idea is to ask an investigator for his advice and then talk to your lawyer, before hiring the investigator. If you then decide to hire an investigator you have to empower the lawyer to speak to the investigator about your case, otherwise he will not be able to do so, because of his special confidentiality obligations as a lawyer.


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10. Can I get help at the Investigator Associations?

In Germany, until recently, we had three serious National Investigator Associations, the Bund Deutscher Detektive (BDD)[Federal Association of German Investigators], the Deutscher Detektivverband (DDV) [Association of German Investigators] and the Bundesverband Internationaler Detektive (BID) [Federal Association of international investigators]. The last two merged together recently maintaining the name BID.


Both remaining associations represent about 200 members each. Because of double membership, non-active members and family memberships, about 250 active investigation companies remain, represented by the German associations, which is about 25% - 30% of the profession. This means approximately three quarters are not represented in an association.


The Manager of Axom International Ltd, Matthias Willenbrink, used to be the Secretary of the BID association from 1996 until 1998. After that he was mostly involved in International Associations such as the  WAD (World Association of Detectives) and WAPI (World Association of Professional Investigators). He is also a member of the German Association BDD (Bundesverband Deutscher Detektive).


In Germany the BDD and BID work for the interests of the national investigators. On the European level, the Council of European Investigators is active, supported by WAPI, the French Detective Organisation and the Spanish Association of Investigators.


There are many very serious, hard-working colleagues in the Associations, who do their best to represent the interests of our profession and the Associations have developed a code of ethics and established complaint groups, where clients can complain if they are not satisfied with the service they receive.. However that is only possible if the investigator you have is a member of one of these associations.


If you are looking for an investigator you can get support from the German associations, but they will only refer their members.

The Director of AXOM INTERNATIONAL LTD is a member of the World Association of Detectives (WAD), which has its Executive Office in the USA and the WAPI (World Association of Professional Investigators) in England.



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