DR. SARAFI Rechtsanwälte successfully challenge unlawful reporting of suspicions in court
From our press archive. This communication gives the status of the original publication of 22 June 2026 again. Subsequent developments in the process are not automatically taken into account.
Our client is a successful entrepreneur who has built several franchise businesses in the chain restaurant sector.
A journalist intended to publish a profile of the founder that also covered alleged fundraising activities before his business success. The suspicions concerned allegations that our client had embezzled and stolen money and then used it to build his own business. However, there was no sufficient factual evidence to support these serious suspicions.
No opportunity to respond to the specific allegations
Before publishing his article, the journalist sent our client various questions. However, our client was not confronted with the specific suspicions that were later published. In particular, he was not told that he would be accused of taking money from a shop’s till and then using it to open his own shop. Our client therefore did not respond to the generally worded enquiry.
Interim injunction from the Hamburg Regional Court
After the article was published, our client contacted us. We first sent the journalist a formal out-of-court warning and subsequently applied to the Hamburg Regional Court for an interim injunction requiring the journalist to cease and remove the challenged reporting.
The Hamburg Regional Court granted our application in full.
A key principle governing the reporting of suspicions was particularly significant: anyone reporting a serious suspicion must confront the person concerned with the specific allegation before publication and give them an opportunity to respond. A generally worded research enquiry is not sufficient.
The Hamburg Regional Court expressly stated the following (English translation):
“Regardless of whether there is a minimum body of factual evidence, the applicant has not even been given an adequate opportunity to respond.”
In the court’s view, the journalist’s enquiry did not make clear that our client was specifically to be accused of taking money from a shop’s till and then using that money to open his own shop.
Taking early action against unlawful reporting
The case shows how important prompt and consistent action against unlawful reporting of suspicions can be. Particularly where allegations are serious, even individual errors in journalistic research, including a failure to adequately confront the person concerned with the specific intended allegations, can be highly relevant to the lawfulness of the subsequent reporting.
If, as a company, entrepreneur or private individual, you receive questions from a journalist concerning potentially damaging allegations, or if you are already affected by unlawful reporting, the legal position should be assessed as early as possible. Depending on the circumstances, action may be possible before publication, or urgent court protection may be sought shortly afterwards.
DR. SARAFI Rechtsanwälte advise and represent clients throughout Germany in press and freedom of expression law.