Information on the lawsuit against the Federal Republic of Germany

Information on the lawsuit against the Federal Republic of Germany - represented by the Federal Ministry of the Interior - brought before the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig
Top Facts:
- DE-CIX Management GmbH has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Republic of Germany - represented by the Federal Ministry of the Interior - in the Federal Administrative Court (Bundesverwaltungsgericht) in Leipzig, Germany.
- The purpose of our lawsuit is to subject the practice of strategic monitoring of communications according to Paragraph 5 of the German federal law that regulates the surveillance powers of Germany's intelligence agencies, the Gesetz zur Beschränkung des Brief-, Post- und Fernmeldegeheimnisses, hereafter the G10 Act, in our company to a judicial review.
- DE-CIX Management GmbH is a recipient of legal orders from the Federal Intelligence Service (Bundesnachrichtendienst/BND) which have their basis in the G10 Act and which serve the purpose of “strategic signals intelligence”.
- We have grave doubts about the legality of the current practice, not least on the basis of the recently published expert opinion of Prof. Hans-Jürgen Papier, retired President of the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht).
- We consider ourselves under obligation to our customers to work towards a situation in which strategic surveillance of their telecommunications only takes place in a legal manner.
- With the lawsuit, we seek judicial clarification and, in particular, legal certainty for our customers and our company.
Statement:
DE-CIX Management GmbH has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Republic of Germany - represented by the Federal Ministry of the Interior - in the Federal Administrative Court (Bundesverwaltungsgericht) in Leipzig. The purpose of our lawsuit is to subject the practice of strategic monitoring of communications according to Paragraph 5 of the G10 Act by the Federal Intelligence Service (Bundesnachrichtendienst) in our company to a judicial review. We have grave doubts about the legality of the current practice, not least on the basis of the recently published expert opinion of Prof. Hans-Jürgen Papier, retired President of the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht). We consider ourselves under obligation to our customers to work towards a situation in which strategic surveillance of their telecommunications only takes place in a legal manner. We seek a judicial clarification and, in particular, legal certainty for our customers and our company.
Contact: Carsten Titt – Senior Manager Global PR DE-CIX (Tel.: +49 (0)170 32 82 820)
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Media_Info_law_suit_DE-CIX_FRG.pdf (497 KB)