Germany Defamation Laws: Civil, Criminal & Defences

In Germany, defamation is both a criminal offence and a civil wrong. The Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch, StGB) punishes insult and false statements of fact under sections 185 to 187, and the Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, BGB) lets the person harmed sue for an injunction, retraction, and money compensation under the general personality right.

Is defamation civil, criminal, or both in Germany?

It is both. Germany treats attacks on personal honour as criminal offences and as civil wrongs at the same time. The Criminal Code groups the honour offences in sections 185 to 200 StGB, with the three core provisions being section 185 (Beleidigung, insult), section 186 (üble Nachrede, defamation by unproven fact), and section 187 (Verleumdung, knowingly false defamation). Separately, the civil courts protect the allgemeines Persönlichkeitsrecht (general personality right), a right the Federal courts derived from Articles 1 and 2 of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz) and treat as an "other right" under section 823(1) BGB. Because the criminal honour provisions also count as protective statutes under section 823(2) BGB, a single false statement can expose the speaker to both a criminal complaint and a civil suit for damages and an injunction.

What counts as criminal defamation under the StGB?

German law distinguishes opinion from fact. Section 185 StGB (insult) penalises an expression of disrespect or contempt, including statements made only to the target, and is punishable by imprisonment for up to one year or a fine, or up to two years if committed publicly, in a meeting, by disseminating content (section 11(3) StGB), or by physical assault. Section 186 StGB (üble Nachrede) applies where a person asserts or disseminates a fact about another that is capable of degrading them and that cannot be proven true; the penalty is up to one year or a fine, rising to up to two years if committed publicly or by disseminating content. Section 187 StGB (Verleumdung) is the most serious: it covers asserting or spreading an untrue fact against better knowledge, and carries up to two years or a fine, or up to five years if committed publicly or by disseminating content.

Watch out: Insult under section 185 StGB does not require that the statement reach a third party. An offensive remark made directly to the person, with no audience, can still be criminal.

How does civil liability work?

Civil liability flows from the general personality right. Where a statement violates that right, the person affected can sue under section 823(1) BGB (or section 823(2) BGB combined with the honour provisions of the StGB) for damages, and by analogy with section 1004(1) BGB for an injunction and removal of the offending material. German courts also recognise a separate claim for monetary compensation (Geldentschädigung) for serious, non-pecuniary harm where other remedies cannot adequately repair the injury. Reported awards have varied widely depending on the gravity and reach of the publication, and there is no statutory ceiling on personality-right compensation. Claims of this kind are decided by the ordinary civil courts, typically the Regional Court (Landgericht) and, on appeal, the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht).

What defences and privileges apply?

The central statutory defence is truth combined with legitimate interest. For section 186 StGB, proving the asserted fact is true generally defeats liability, since the offence turns on the fact being unprovable or false. Section 193 StGB (Wahrnehmung berechtigter Interessen) shields statements made to safeguard legitimate interests, including critical judgments about scientific, artistic, or professional work, reproaches or reprimands by superiors, and statements made to assert or defend a legal right, except where an insult is evident from the form or the surrounding circumstances. German courts weigh the speaker's freedom of expression (Article 5 Basic Law) against the subject's personality right, and they give more latitude to commentary on public figures and matters of public debate than to attacks on private individuals.

Truth is not an unlimited licence, however. Section 192 StGB provides that proving a statement true does not rule out a conviction for insult under section 185 StGB where the insult follows from the form of the statement or the circumstances in which it was made, so a genuinely true fact can still be punishable if it is expressed in a gratuitously degrading way.

German courts also apply a narrow category called Schmähkritik (purely defamatory attack), reserved for a statement that has no real connection to any factual matter and serves only to degrade its target. The Bundesverfassungsgericht narrowed this category in 2020, in press releases 49/2020 and 95/2020 (the latter reporting case 1 BvR 2249/19), holding that harsh, polemical, or exaggerated criticism is not automatically Schmähkritik and that a court finding it still has to show its balancing work rather than treat the label as a shortcut around it.

Are penalties higher for statements about political figures?

Yes. Section 188 StGB creates a heavier regime where the target is a person in political life, the statement was made publicly, in a meeting, or by distributing content, the motive is connected with that person's public position, and the statement is capable of significantly impeding their public work. Under those conditions, insult carries up to three years in prison or a fine, and üble Nachrede and Verleumdung carry three months to five years and six months to five years respectively, all higher than the ordinary maxima in sections 185 to 187. This aggravated tier for section 185 only reached its current form through a law in force since 3 April 2021; before that date, the public, meeting, or content-distribution aggravation applied to sections 186 and 187 but not to simple insult. Section 189 StGB separately punishes disparaging the memory of a deceased person, with up to two years in prison or a fine.

What is the limitation period?

For civil claims, the standard three-year limitation period under section 195 BGB applies. Under section 199 BGB, that period generally begins at the end of the year in which the claim arose and the claimant learned, or without gross negligence should have learned, of the facts and the identity of the person responsible. For the criminal side, the honour offences are mostly complaint offences under section 194 StGB, and the criminal complaint must generally be filed within three months of the injured person learning of the act and the offender, in line with the complaint deadline in section 77b StGB.

How is online defamation treated?

The same StGB and BGB rules apply to statements made online, including on social media, in reviews, and in comment sections. Posting a false factual claim on the internet can satisfy the "disseminating content" element that triggers the higher penalties in sections 185 to 187 StGB. On the civil side, a person harmed can seek removal and an injunction, and German law has long imposed duties on host providers and platforms to act once they are notified of clearly unlawful content. Affected individuals frequently combine a takedown demand to the platform with civil and, where appropriate, criminal steps against the original author.

Watch out: Leaving a defamatory post online after being notified can create separate liability for a platform or host, so a notice that identifies the unlawful content is an important first step in online cases.

How do you bring a defamation claim in Germany?

There are two tracks, often used together. On the criminal track, the injured person files a criminal complaint (Strafantrag) with the police or public prosecutor, usually within three months; for many honour offences the victim can also pursue a private prosecution (Privatklage) if the prosecutor declines to act. Before a Privatklage for insult is admissible, section 380 StPO generally requires an unsuccessful attempt at conciliation (Sühneversuch) before a body designated by the state justice administration, with a certificate of that failed attempt filed alongside the private charge. On the civil track, the claimant brings proceedings in the civil courts seeking an injunction, removal, a correction, and, in serious cases, monetary compensation. Because the criminal honour provisions double as protective statutes for civil claims, a criminal finding can support a parallel civil suit. This is general information about German law, not legal advice for any specific dispute.

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