Das Recht auf verbalen Gegenschlag

The German Federal Constitutional Court developed the “right to a verbal counterstrike” in a limited number of decisions. It describes the possibility for one party to be able to react adequately to a cause, a “strike”, with a statement, or “counterstrike”, under statutes protecting freedom of expression. The conditions under which such a right is granted has been handled inconsistently by German case law thus far.
The dissertation analyzes the dogmatic basis, elaborates on the concrete contours, and discusses the limits of the right to a verbal counterstrike. Due to its compensatory effect, the right to a counterstrike offers genuine legal protection in light of commonly insufficient judicial protection of personality rights.