Data Protection and the Division of Legislative Power – Enforcement of the EU Fundamental Right to Protection of Personal Data after Case C-817/19 Ligue des droits humains
(2022) JURM02 20222Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- I denna uppsats undersöks dataskydd som en konstitutionell rättighet i EU
och de omständigheter under vilka rättigheten kan begränsas. Rätten till
respekt för privatlivet och skydd för personuppgifter återfinns i artiklarna 7
och 8 i Europeiska unionens stadga om de grundläggande rättigheterna.
Regleringen av användningen av personuppgifter är ett lagstiftningsområde i
EU av växande betydelse, med tydliga kopplingar till mänskliga rättigheter,
ekonomiska och marknadsintressen samt brottsbekämpning och nationell
säkerhet. I takt med utvecklingen av ny teknik såsom artificiell intelligens blir
rätten till dataskydd allt viktigare.
EU-domstolen har tenderat att ge skyddet för personuppgifter en stark
ställning i sin praxis. Den 21... (More) - I denna uppsats undersöks dataskydd som en konstitutionell rättighet i EU
och de omständigheter under vilka rättigheten kan begränsas. Rätten till
respekt för privatlivet och skydd för personuppgifter återfinns i artiklarna 7
och 8 i Europeiska unionens stadga om de grundläggande rättigheterna.
Regleringen av användningen av personuppgifter är ett lagstiftningsområde i
EU av växande betydelse, med tydliga kopplingar till mänskliga rättigheter,
ekonomiska och marknadsintressen samt brottsbekämpning och nationell
säkerhet. I takt med utvecklingen av ny teknik såsom artificiell intelligens blir
rätten till dataskydd allt viktigare.
EU-domstolen har tenderat att ge skyddet för personuppgifter en stark
ställning i sin praxis. Den 21 juni 2022 gick domstolen emot denna trend i
mål C-817/19 Ligue des droits humains, när den valde att inte ogiltigförklara
PNR-direktivet trots att det innebar betydande ingrepp i rättigheterna som
garanteras i artiklarna 7 och 8 i Stadgan. I sin dom tillämpade domstolen
allmänna tolkningsprinciper som innebär att en unionsrättsakt ska tolkas, så
långt möjligt, på ett sätt så att dess giltighet inte påverkas. De ingrepp som
PNR-direktivet innefattade befanns stå i proportion till sitt syfte, att bekämpa
terroristbrott och grov brottslighet.
I uppsatsen undersöks hur den grundläggande rätten till dataskydd balanseras
gentemot nationell säkerhet genom att analysera Ligue des droits humains.
Följderna av domen övervägs i relation till begreppen rättighetens väsentliga
innehåll (essens), proportionalitet och nödvändighet.
Tillämpningen av de allmänna tolkningsprinciperna ledde till att domstolen
begränsade omfattningen av sin konstitutionella domstolsprövning.
Lämpligheten av detta ifrågasätts utifrån den starka anknytningen i målet till
grundläggande rättigheter eftersom EU-domstolen på så sätt ålägger sig själv
en skyldighet att begränsa rätten till dataskydd så långt som möjligt. I sina
ansträngningar att inte ogiltigförklara PNR-direktivet, men samtidigt hålla det
begränsat till vad som är strikt nödvändigt, tillät domstolen sig ett stort
tolkningsutrymme för att justera direktivets bestämmelser. Sådana justeringar
av direktivet skapar dissonans mellan gällande rätt, så som den uttolkats av
domstolen och så som den föreskrivits av lagstiftaren, vilket undergräver
maktfördelningen mellan EU:s dömande och lagstiftande organ. Hur väl
medlemsstaterna kommer att införliva de tolkningar som gjorts i Ligue des
droits humains, och domens potentiella inverkan på kommande
dataskyddslagstiftning återstår att se. I domen undvek EU-domstolen att
tydligt ta ställning vad gäller proportionalitetsavvägningen mellan de
motstående intressena, men slutsatsen kan dras trots detta är att intresset av
att upprätthålla nationell säkerhet vägde tyngre än den grundläggande rätten
till dataskydd. (Less) - Abstract
- This thesis centers data protection as a constitutional right in the EU, as en-shrined in Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and exam-ines the circumstances under which the right can be limited. Regulation of the use of personal data as a legislative field in the EU has clear ties to human rights, economic and market interests, and interests of law enforcement and national security. With the development of new technology such as predictive modelling, data protection is becoming increasingly important.
The Court of Justice has tended to give data protection a strong stance in its jurisprudence. On 21 June 2022 the Court handed down another landmark judgement on data protection, Case C-817/19 Ligue des droits humains,... (More) - This thesis centers data protection as a constitutional right in the EU, as en-shrined in Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and exam-ines the circumstances under which the right can be limited. Regulation of the use of personal data as a legislative field in the EU has clear ties to human rights, economic and market interests, and interests of law enforcement and national security. With the development of new technology such as predictive modelling, data protection is becoming increasingly important.
The Court of Justice has tended to give data protection a strong stance in its jurisprudence. On 21 June 2022 the Court handed down another landmark judgement on data protection, Case C-817/19 Ligue des droits humains, in which it chose not to invalidate the PNR Directive although it entailed serious interferences with the right to data protection. In its judgement, the Court up-held a general principle of interpretation, namely that an EU act must be inter-preted, as far as possible, in such a way as not to affect its validity. The inter-ferences of the PNR Directive were found to be proportionate to the objective of combatting terrorist offences and serious crime.
In this thesis is examined how data protection is upheld as a fundamental right in the context of national security by analyzing the judgement of Ligue des droits humains. The implications of the judgement are considered in relation to the concepts of essence, proportionality, and necessity.
The thesis argues that the application of the general principle of interpretation led the Court to limit the extent of its judicial review, the appropriateness of which can be questioned in a case with such strong ties to fundamental rights. Seemingly the Court imposes on itself an obligation to limit the right to data protection to a minimum, or to its essence. Although the Court circumvented taking a clear stance on the stricto sensu proportionality of the interference in its analysis, in conclusion, the fundamental right to data protection was out-balanced by the interest of national security.
In its efforts not to invalidate the PNR Directive, but at the same time keep it limited to what is strictly necessary, the Court allowed itself a wide margin of interpretation to adjust its provisions. Such interpretations create friction be-tween the law as made by the Court in its judgement and the law as crafted by the EU legislature, which subverts the division of powers between the judicial and legislative bodies of the EU. How well Member States will follow the amendments to the PNR Directive as made by the Court, and its potential im-plications on future legislation regulating the use of PNR data remains to be seen. After Ligue des droits humains, the CJEU has strengthened its own mandate to co-legislate together with the EU legislator. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9104889
- author
- Forsman, Alise LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- JURM02 20222
- year
- 2022
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- EU law, constitutional law, fundamental rights, data protection, proportionality
- language
- English
- id
- 9104889
- date added to LUP
- 2023-01-25 17:32:40
- date last changed
- 2023-01-25 17:32:40
@misc{9104889,
abstract = {{This thesis centers data protection as a constitutional right in the EU, as en-shrined in Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and exam-ines the circumstances under which the right can be limited. Regulation of the use of personal data as a legislative field in the EU has clear ties to human rights, economic and market interests, and interests of law enforcement and national security. With the development of new technology such as predictive modelling, data protection is becoming increasingly important.
The Court of Justice has tended to give data protection a strong stance in its jurisprudence. On 21 June 2022 the Court handed down another landmark judgement on data protection, Case C-817/19 Ligue des droits humains, in which it chose not to invalidate the PNR Directive although it entailed serious interferences with the right to data protection. In its judgement, the Court up-held a general principle of interpretation, namely that an EU act must be inter-preted, as far as possible, in such a way as not to affect its validity. The inter-ferences of the PNR Directive were found to be proportionate to the objective of combatting terrorist offences and serious crime.
In this thesis is examined how data protection is upheld as a fundamental right in the context of national security by analyzing the judgement of Ligue des droits humains. The implications of the judgement are considered in relation to the concepts of essence, proportionality, and necessity.
The thesis argues that the application of the general principle of interpretation led the Court to limit the extent of its judicial review, the appropriateness of which can be questioned in a case with such strong ties to fundamental rights. Seemingly the Court imposes on itself an obligation to limit the right to data protection to a minimum, or to its essence. Although the Court circumvented taking a clear stance on the stricto sensu proportionality of the interference in its analysis, in conclusion, the fundamental right to data protection was out-balanced by the interest of national security.
In its efforts not to invalidate the PNR Directive, but at the same time keep it limited to what is strictly necessary, the Court allowed itself a wide margin of interpretation to adjust its provisions. Such interpretations create friction be-tween the law as made by the Court in its judgement and the law as crafted by the EU legislature, which subverts the division of powers between the judicial and legislative bodies of the EU. How well Member States will follow the amendments to the PNR Directive as made by the Court, and its potential im-plications on future legislation regulating the use of PNR data remains to be seen. After Ligue des droits humains, the CJEU has strengthened its own mandate to co-legislate together with the EU legislator.}},
author = {{Forsman, Alise}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Data Protection and the Division of Legislative Power – Enforcement of the EU Fundamental Right to Protection of Personal Data after Case C-817/19 Ligue des droits humains}},
year = {{2022}},
}