A Pakistani national, the plaintiff – Court Ruling (Germany, 2023)

Court Ruling
DPA VGPotsdam14 December 2023Germany
final
Court Ruling

General GDPR enforcement action

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A Pakistani man living in Germany was arrested while trying to enter Italy due to an alert on the Schengen Information System. He requested the deletion of this alert after his arrest was revoked, but German authorities denied his request. This case raises questions about how alerts are managed and the rights of individuals under data protection laws.

What happened

A Pakistani national requested the deletion of an alert on the Schengen Information System after his arrest was revoked.

Who was affected

The individual affected is a Pakistani national who was wanted for extradition to Pakistan.

What the authority found

German authorities rejected the request for deletion, stating the alert was lawful for public safety reasons.

Why this matters

This ruling highlights the complexities of data management in law enforcement and the balance between public safety and individual rights.

GDPR Articles Cited

AI-verified

Art. 17(1)(d) GDPR
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Art. 17(GDPR)

Original data from scraper before AI verification against source document.

National Law Articles

AI-identified

Federal Police Act
Decision AuthorityVGPotsdam
Source verified 13 April 2026
articles corrected
national law identified
scope corrected
Full Legal Summary
Detailed

A Pakistani national residing in Germany (the data subject) is suspected of having killed a person together with his brother and other persons in Pakistan, where he is wanted by warrant. This created an alert on the Schengen Information System (SIS) stating that he should be denied entry into the Schengen zone. The data subject upon travelling to Italy was arrested at the border to be extradited to Pakistan. Pakistan however, failed to submit an extradition document despite Italy's requests. Therefore, the arrest was revoked by the Italian Court of Appeal in Brescia. Based on this, the data subject argued that he was now innocent and requested the deletion of the alert on the SIS system under Article 17(1)(d) GDPR.This is because Article 53(1) Regulation (EU) 2018/1861 which governs the operation of the SIS system refers to the GDPR and allows data subjects to invoke their rights under it, even if they are not for example an EU national. The reason for the data subject invoking the GDPR is that Article 53(1) Regulation (EU) 2018/1861 which governs the operation of the SIS system, refers to the GDPR and allows data subjects to invoke their rights under it when their data is processed by the system. The Federal Police Headquarters of Germany rejected the request for deletion multiple times. The alert was lawful and according to national law, data of foreigners who are the subject of an alert for refusal of entry can be stored on the basis of public safety. The voiding of the arrest warrent in Italy could not be held to override this public safety. The extradition had failed for formal reasons rather than because the data subject was innocent. The arrest warrant issued by Interpol Pakistan had not been withdrawn and therefore, there was still a valid reason to hold the alert in the SIS system. The data subject appealed the decision to the German Court in Potsdam arguing, among other reasons, that his rights had been infringed and that the data should be deleted

Outcome

Court Ruling

A ruling by a national court on a data-protection matter.

Related Cases (0)

No other cases found for A Pakistani national, the plaintiff in DE

This is the only recorded case for this entity in this jurisdiction.

Details

Ruling Date

14 December 2023

Authority

DPA VGPotsdam

About this data

Data: GDPRhub (noyb.eu)
Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
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Cite as: Cookie Fines. A Pakistani national, the plaintiff - Germany (2023). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu

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