On June 24, 2004, the European Court of Human Rights delivered a key judgment on the protection of privacy of individuals. The court held that a decision of the Bundesverfassungsgericht (the German Federal Constitutional Court) of 15 December, 1999, and the preceding judgments of the lower courts in Germany violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) securing the protection of the private life.
The German Government has the option to file a request for the case to be referred to the Grand Chamber of the European Court within three months of the delivery of the judgment. Such a referral, if it is accepted, would constitute a so-called ‘internal appeal’ and lead to a judgment of a different panel of judges in the same court.
