Brief: Federal Administrative Court suspends ban

The Federal Administrative Court has temporarily lifted the ban on Compact Magazine in an accelerated procedure. The Leipzig court decided that the interest in suspending the immediate implementation of the ban outweighs the public interest in implementing it. This refers to the freedom of expression and freedom of the press guaranteed in the Basic Law, especially since the print and online offering is the focus of the activities of Compact Magazine GmbH. The final decision must be made in the main proceedings.

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The Federal Interior Ministry banned Compact-Magazin GmbH in mid-July this year, citing the association law. Since then, the printed magazine with a circulation of around 40,000 issues and online publications have not been allowed to continue. The Interior Ministry also banned the magazine’s activities on social networks. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Fesser described the magazine as “the central mouthpiece of the right-wing extremist scene”. The magazine incites “unspeakable incitement against Jews, against people with a migrant background and against our parliamentary democracy”.

open up possibilities for success

The chances of success of Compact Magazine GmbH’s lawsuit against the ban remain open, The court announced after a brief trial. There is no concern as to whether the Associations Act applies in this case. Everything also shows that the prohibition order is formally legal. However, it cannot currently be conclusively assessed whether it satisfies the reason for the association ban, namely that it is directed against the constitutional order.

In terms of content, the Leipzig judges recognized evidence of a violation of human dignity through individual statements in print and online publications, as set out in Article 1 paragraph 1 of the Basic Law. There is also an “overwhelming” indication that Compact Magazine GmbH, with its rhetoric in numerous articles, takes a belligerent, aggressive stance towards elementary constitutional principles.

However, the judges are skeptical about whether these contributions are so impressive that a ban is justified against the background of constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression and freedom of the press. “The measures of the press and media law, the ban on events, place and event-related restrictions on expression as well as the ban and restrictions on gatherings should be considered as a possible mild measure,” writes the supreme German administrative court.

(Application)