310
EVI LASKARI, HONORARY VOLUME
Where such social interactions are present, the state may take certain measures to
protect the public good.
The court emphasized that, in most cases, freedom of information should receive
constitutional priority over the personality rights of a convicted criminal. Never-
theless, the court held that the encroachment on the convicted criminal’s person-
ality rights should not go any further than required to satisfy what was necessary
to serve the public interest and, furthermore, that the disadvantages for the con-
victed criminal should be weighed against the severity of the crime committed.
Using these criteria, the court found that the planned ZDF broadcast violated the
petitioner’s personality rights because of the way in which it named, pictured,
and represented him.
The court noted that the broadcast represented the petitioner, who was recog-
nizable through the facts of the story even though his name and face were not
shown, in a negative and unsympathetic manner. Moreover, the petitioner was
represented in the planned TV docudrama as a primary perpetrator, when in ac-
tuality he had simply aided and abetted the crime. Additionally, the docudrama
placed more emphasis on the homosexual element of the relationships between
the perpetrators than what the outcome of the trial warranted. The court also
found it relevant that, as a general rule, television had a much stronger impact on
privacy than a written or verbal report in a newspaper or radio show. Finally, the
court indicated it was important that the ZDF broadcast’s misstatements were a
significant reason for its decision.
Applying these factors, the court found that the ZDF report could prevent the
resocialization of the complainant in violation of his rights under Articles 1 and
2(1) of the Basic Law. The inviolability of human dignity required that a former
convict receive the opportunity to re-enter society once the prison term was
served and dues were paid to society. In this case, the convicted criminal’s reso-
cialization was put at risk where a television broadcast would reenact the crimes
of a perpetrator close to or after the time of his release from prison. Moreover,
ZDF’s stated goal of informing the public about the effectiveness of the prosecu-
tion and the security measures taken by the German military since the attacks could
be reached without identifying the petitioner in the manner that had been planned.
ac. The Greek Data Protection Authority
The Greek Data Protection Authority has repeatedly commented on the risks
posed by the Internet, particularly with reference to data that are true, lawful
but also non-flattering for their subjects, such as one’s failure in an exam for in-
