Germany imposed laws restricting the marketing of laser games that simulated killing human beings on the grounds that it undermined human dignity. O argued that this was contrary to the free movement of goods (art 28). ECJ said that the protection of human dignity is a principle of EU law, so that the derogation from article 28 was a proportionate and necessary one.
ECJ: “the Community legal order undeniably strives to ensure respect for human dignity as a general principle of law. There can therefore be no doubt that the objective of protecting human dignity is compatible with Community law, it being immaterial in that respect that, in Germany, the principle of respect for human dignity has a particular status as an independent fundamental right.” The marketing restriction was a suitable and proportionate means of upholding human dignity.
