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European court: rules on privacy

01 May 1993

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that business premises can under some circumstances fall under the protection of article 8 of the European Convention. In the Niemietz case, a lawyer's office was searched in 1986 to obtain evidence against an anonymous person who used the pseudonym "Klaus Wegner" and who as a member of the political party Bunte Liste in Freiburg ran a campaign against the supposed abuse of power by a judge (Mr. Miosga). The Bunte Liste had used the lawyer's post box as its mail address. The European Court concluded that there was a breach of article 8 mainly because the interference was not necessary in a democratic society (ie: the offence in connection with which the search was effected was not sufficiently grave to justify the intrusion in the privacy, especially as it was a lawyer's office). The Court argued that it did not consider it possible or necessary to attempt an exhaustive definition of the notion of "private life" but considered that the words "private life" and "home" included certain professional or business activities or premises would be consonant with the essential object and purpose of article 8, namely to protect the individual against arbitrary interference by the public authorities.

ECHR 16 XII 1992: Niemietz case against Germany.