Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens – Court Ruling (Netherlands, 2020)

In two similar cases, complainants requested Dutch Data Protection Authority to take enforcement action against the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State. According to the complainants, the Division violates GDPR by providing journalists with access to physical copies of procedural documents on the day of hearing. Complainants point to the violation of Articles 5, 6, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 32, 33 and 34. The Dutch DPA is of the opinion that, pursuant to Article 55(3) GDPR, it is not authorized to supervise this processing. There is an inextricable link between the public nature of justice and the judicial task; transparency and openness in individual cases is an important part of judicial task. On 29 May 2020 the Court of First Instance of the Central Netherlands decided to submit the following questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union: 1. Should Article 55(3) of the GDPR be interpreted as meaning that “processing operations of courts acting in their judicial capacity” includes the provision by a judicial authority of access to the procedural documents containing personal data to a journalist, as described in this order for reference? 1a. In answering this question, is it important whether, in specific cases, the exercise of the supervision powers by the national supervisory authority over this form of data processing affects the independence of judgement? 1b. In answering this question, is it important that the nature and the purpose of data processing, according to the judicial authority, is to inform a journalist to allow for better reporting on public hearings and legal proceedings, which supports the openness and transparency of justice? 1c. In answering this question, is it important that data processing is explicitly provided for by national legislation? The Council finds that a preliminary ruling from the Court of Justice as referred to in Article 267 of the TFEU is needed, since the concept of “judicial task” is an EU l