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the right of changing one’s mind about one’s beliefs, as well as with the choice of
revealing specific aspects of one’s private life.
10
ab. Germany
In 1973, the German Federal Constitutional Court had to decide whether the per-
sonal rights of a convicted criminal should supersede the general interest of the
public good. The suspect had been involved in the notorious “soldier murders of
Lebach,” whereby four German soldiers were killed during the armed robbery of
an ammunition dump in 1969.
11
The two primary perpetrators were friends of
the petitioner, and the relationship had a homosexual element During the plan-
ning of the attack, the petitioner repeatedly expressed reluctance in carrying out
the deed, and he did not take part in the attack. The two primary perpetrators
were convicted in 1970 and received life sentences, whereas the petitioner was
given a sentence of six years for aiding and abetting the crime.
2
In 1972, the
state-owned German television channel ZDF planned to broadcast a television
drama about the Lebach murders. In an introduction to the drama, the broad-
casters had planned to broadcast the names and photographs of those involved
in the crime. Moreover, ZDF had arranged to air a docudrama in which actors
would reconstruct the crime. The petitioner wanted to prevent the airing of the
docudrama insofar as he (or his name) would be represented in it. The German
Federal Constitutional Court was required to decide which of two constitutional
values would take priority: the freedom of the media under Article 5 of the Basic
Law or the personality rights of the convicted criminal under Article 2.
The court ruled that the petitioner’s constitutional rights merited priority be-
cause the right to freely develop one’s personality and the protection of one’s dig-
nity guarantees every individual an autonomous space in which to develop and
protect one’s individualism. The court noted that every person should determine
independently and for oneself whether and to what extent one’s life and image
can be publicized. The court also pointed out, however, that it was not the entire
spectrum of one’s private life that fell under the protection of personality rights.
If, as a member of society at large, an individual enters into communications
with others or impacts them through one’s presence or behaviour, and therefore
impacts the private sphere of others, the individual limits this privacy of life.
10. See
-
bli-dans-la-societe-numerique/, last access June 10, 2013.
11. Bundesverfassungsgericht [BVerfG] [Federal Constitutional Court] June 5, 1973, 35 Ent-
scheidungen des Bundesverfassungsgerichts [BVerfGE] 202 (204) (F.R.G.), available at:
sbverg.shtml?05jun1973, [hereinafter referred to as the Lebach Case]. Last access June 10,
2013.
