Court dismisses SPIEGEL’s appeal

MPG appeal successful / SPIEGEL corrects additional reporting from 13 March 2025

On 16 December 2025, the Munich Higher Regional Court dismissed SPIEGEL’s appeal against the 30 May 2025 injunction issued by the Munich I Regional Court, ruling it entirely without merit. In contrast, the Max Planck Society’s (MPG) appeal was successful. The court confirmed that SPIEGEL had made several false factual claims, rendering its criticism of the MPG’s complaints procedures legally inadmissible.

SPIEGEL’s reporting relied on only two specific cases, both of which were misrepresented. In the first case, dating back to 2015/16, a witness cited by the complainant – contrary to SPIEGEL’s assertions – refused to comment on the substance of the allegations. The Higher Regional Court reaffirmed that the lower court correctly classified SPIEGEL’s account as a false factual claim. Furthermore, as the complainant had not consented to an investigation pursuant to the MPG’s formal code of procedure, the MPG was unable to conduct a comprehensive and objective inquiry into the alleged misconduct.

In the second case, dating from 2020/21, SPIEGEL falsely claimed that a postdoctoral researcher had reported allegations against his supervisor to the MPG’s confidential external law firm. Contrary to the published claims, the researcher had not informed the law firm of any of the specific incidents described in the article; nor had he indicated which institute his complaint concerned. Consequently, the MPG was again unable to investigate. The Higher Regional Court therefore upheld the ruling that SPIEGEL's statement also constituted a false factual claim.

In addition, the Munich Higher Regional Court ruled that SPIEGEL had distorted the Max Planck Society’s official statement. The article omitted the MPG’s actual response to the inquiry, substituting it with other remarks that misrepresented the original context. Consequently, the Higher Regional Court upheld the MPG’s appeal. This decision is of fundamental importance for the media relations work of other organisations as well.

Throughout the proceedings, the Higher Regional Court indicated at several points that it considered the SPIEGEL reporting to be incomplete and truncated, failing to provide the reader with a proper factual basis.

SPIEGEL has since corrected its reporting, added the missing information, and accepted the appellate ruling as final in January 2026. From a legal standpoint, the matter is now resolved, and a main court hearing is no longer necessary.

Note: This version updates the original release dated 4 June 2025.