Search results : 1348

In a judgment of 24 January 2001, the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court - BVerfG) dismissed a complaint by television broadcaster n-tv. The latter had claimed that the ban on television coverage of court proceedings contained in Section 169.2 of the Gerichtsverfassungsgesetz (Code of Judicial Organisation - GVG) was unconstitutional. Section 169.2 of the GVG bans all sound and radio/ picture recordings intended for publication. The Constitutional Court explained its decision firstly by pointing out that Article 5.1.1 of the Grundgesetz (Basic Law - GG), which guarantees the...

The Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Supreme Court) has ruled that an Australian citizen can be punished for incitement of the people under the terms of Article 130.1 and 130.3 of the Strafgesetzbuch (Criminal CodeStGB). The accused, a director of the "Adelaide Institute" in Australia, wrote, inter alia, articles in which he supported "revisionist" theories and which he posted on the Institute's home page on an Australian Internet server. In these articles, written under the pretext of scientific research, he denied that the murder of Jews under National Socialism ever took place, describing it as a...

In accordance with the Rundfunkstaatsvertrag (Agreement between Federal States on Broadcasting - RStV), the Kommission zur Ermittlung der Konzentration im Medienbereich (Commission on Concentration in the Media - KEK) must publish a report every three years on developments in concentration in private broadcasting. The report, under the title Fortschreitende Medienkonzentration im Zeichen der Konvergenz (Continuing media concentration, a sign of convergence), was published on 28 November 2000. The body responsible for controlling concentration in the broadcasting sector is meant to counter the dangers...

The 5th Rundfunkänderungsstaatsvertrag (Agreement to the Amend the Agreement between Federal States on Broadcasting), agreed by the Minister-Presidents of the Länder and signed between 6 July and 7 August 2000, entered into force on 1 January this year. The main subject of debate before the agreement was ratified by the various Land parliaments was a rise in public service broadcasting licence fees. The Landtag (Land parliament) of Saxony referred in the preamble to its Zustimmungsgesetz (Act of Consent) to the desire shared by many of the parliaments for closer involvement in deciding future...

The Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court - BVerfG) has again given the press greater freedom through its decision of 28 August 2000. A finance magazine publisher asked the land registry - initially without explaining her reasons for doing soto grant an editor access to certain pages of the land register. The request was rejected on the grounds that the registered landowner should be consulted first. Furthermore, the land registry thought that the journalist should explain her reasons for consulting the register in order to weigh up the public interest, as asserted by the press,...