In terms of the law, media crime is a cross-sectional subject that embraces aspects of substantive criminal law, criminal procedural law, civil law, press and broadcasting law, data protection law and IT law. For one thing, media crime defence involves determining whether – and if so, how – violations of legal interests, in which media are either the means (the “weapon”) or the target (the “victim”), are liable to criminal sanctions. Infringements of general personal rights, such as unauthorised audio/visual recordings, occur not infrequently in practice. Not only can these lead to civil action being brought for damages and for injunctive relief: they are also relevant under criminal law as well.

And for another thing, today’s mass media also influence criminal procedure in a whole variety of ways – be it reporting on topical litigation on radio and television, as well as in print media and the Internet; actual media usage during litigation (e.g. conducting audio-visual hearings by video conference); or gathering information during criminal investigations by resorting to or accessing modern media (e.g. searching storage media, using analytical tools, telecommunications data retention, etc.).

When it comes to tackling the challenges of a digitalised world that are of such complexity, our law firm’s team will be pleased to provide you with all manner of advice and assistance.