The German parliament was scheduled to pass a new law on Thursday broadening the definition of sex crimes and making it easier to deport foreigners who commit them.

After years of debate on the need for tougher treatment of rape by the criminal justice system, the new legislation finally came together following a rash of sexual assaults on New Year's Eve in the western city of Cologne.

Dubbed the "No means No" law by the media, it explicitly covers cases in which a victim withheld consent but did not physically fight back.