This archive report was first published on 28 November 2019.
On November 28, 2019, Germany's highest court, the constitutional court in Karlsruhe, made a landmark ruling in favor of a German man convicted of murder in 1982.
The man, who was handed a life sentence for murdering two people on a yacht in 1982, was released from jail in 2002 and has since sought to distance his family name from the crime.
According to reports, the man was onboard the sailing ship Apollonia in the Caribbean when he shot and killed two people and severely injured another during a row.
A book and TV documentary were made about the case, and in 1999, the Der Spiegel magazine uploaded three reports from 1982 and 1983 which included the man's full name to their website.
The man became aware of the articles in 2009 and requested they be removed, claiming they violated his rights and his "ability to develop his personality," a court statement says.
However, the case was initially thrown out in 2012 by a federal court, which said his right to privacy did not outweigh public interest and press freedom.
But the constitutional court has overturned that decision, ruling in favor of the man's right to have his name removed from online search results.
Publications are allowed to keep archived articles online but could be forced to remove them if asked, a development that could have far-reaching implications for the concept of the 'right to be forgotten'.
