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18 NIX v. GERMANY DECISION For these reasons, the Court, unanimously, Declares the application inadmissible. Done in English and notified in writing on 5 April 2018. Claudia Westerdiek Registrar Erik Møse President

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Hans Burkhard Nix v. Germany

Case Law

Country

Germany

Country Location

Latitude: 51.168768345617636

Longitude: 10.094236493110516

Country Location (linked Case Law): Germany

Decision Date: Mar 13, 2018

Case Status: Closed

Case Outcome (Procedural)

Inadmissible

Case Outcome (Disposition)

Violation of a Rule of International Law

Keywords

Freedom of Expression
Hate Speech

Court Name: The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section)

Case Number: 5285/16

Case Summary: The European Court of Human Rights rejected a case filed by a German blogger who argued that his conviction for posting a picture of Heinrich Himmler wearing a swastika armband in a blog post violated his right to freedom of expression. The German courts convicted the blogger for having used symbols of an unconstitutional organization. In their judgments, they found that the blogger had not clearly distanced himself from Nazi ideology in the posts. The blogger maintained that his blog post was intended to protest against the treatment of his daughter by the employment office, and to contribute to the debate on discrimination and institutional racism. The Court found that the national courts had provided relevant and sufficient reasons for interfering with Mr. Nix’s right to freedom of expression. Moreover, it held that German history was a weighty factor when considering whether convictions for using Nazi symbols is “necessary in a democratic society”.

Case Significance: The decision establishes a binding or persuasive precedent within its jurisdiction.

Source URL: Columbia Global Freedom of Expression

Primary Documents

NIX v. GERMANY.pdf
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Hans Burkhard Nix v. Germany

Primary Documents

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