SKW Schwarz successfully represents Wort & Bild Verlag in lawsuit against National Health Portal

Munich, June 28, 2023
SKW Schwarz has successfully represented Wort & Bild Verlag in a lawsuit against the German government as operator of the national health portal "gesund.bund.de". In its ruling of June 28, 2023, the Bonn Regional Court found a violation of press freedom due to a breach of the requirement that the press be independent of the state (Case No. 1 O 79/21).

By operating the National Health Portal, the federal government was exceeding the limits of permissible state action on information, according to the 1st Civil Chamber of the Bonn Regional Court. According to the ruling, the offending state health portal may no longer be operated.

The Federal Ministry of Health, as the representative of the federal government, has been operating gesund.bund.de since September 2020 with a specially established editorial team. Numerous press-like articles appear on the portal under the headings "Diseases," "Healthy Living," "Care," and "Health Digital." According to the opinion of the Wort & Bild publishing house, which has now been confirmed by the Bonn Regional Court, the national health portal is thus unlawfully competing with comparable press portals, such as apotheken-umschau.de, which is operated by Wort & Bild. The publisher therefore filed a lawsuit with the Bonn Regional Court in February 2021, demanding that the national health portal be banned.

The judgment is not yet final.
Bonn Regional Court Judgment of June 28, 2023 (Case No. 1 O 79/21)

Advisors / legal representation Wort & Bild Verlag:
SKW Schwarz, Munich: Dr. Johann Heyde (Partner), Johanna Weiß (Counsel; both Media Law)