The BGH had already decided last year: The “Süddeutsche Zeitung” was allowed to quote from a banker’s diaries. He then turned to the highest German court – without success.
In the dispute over the verbatim reproduction from his confiscated diaries, the Hamburg banker Christian Olearius failed at the Federal Constitutional Court.
As the court in Karlsruhe announced, a constitutional complaint from the former head of the Hamburg Warburg Bank, which was involved in the “Cum-Ex” scandal, was not accepted for decision (ref. 1 BvR 2279/23). With the complaint to the highest German court, he appealed against the dismissal of his action for an injunction by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) last year.
The diaries were confiscated in March 2018 during a search of Olearius’ private rooms. Through the recordings, meetings between the then mayor of Hamburg and current Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) with the banker in 2016 and 2017 became known. The “Süddeutsche Zeitung” published a report with quotes from the diaries on its website in September 2020. Olearius saw his personal rights violated and sued the newspaper.
Almost a year ago, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) decided that the verbatim quotations were permitted (ref. VI ZR 116/22). The verbatim reproduction enabled a complete and undistorted picture in the reporting on a topic for which there was an overwhelming public interest in information. According to the Federal Constitutional Court, Olearius was also unable to adequately demonstrate a violation of his personal rights in his constitutional complaint.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
