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

Court Ruling
DPA VGPotsdam14 December 2023Germany
final
Court Ruling

A Pakistani national in Germany wanted an alert removed from the Schengen Information System, claiming he was innocent after an arrest was revoked. The court ruled that the alert was lawful and could stay in place because it was based on public safety. This case shows how data about individuals can be kept for safety reasons even if they claim innocence.

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A Pakistani national requested the deletion of an alert on the Schengen Information System after his arrest was revoked.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

What the authority found

The court decided that the alert was lawful and could remain due to public safety concerns.

Why this matters

This ruling emphasizes that safety alerts can remain in place even if an individual contests their validity. It serves as a reminder for users of such systems to understand the implications of alerts on their records.

GDPR Articles Cited

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Art. 17(GDPR)
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Art. 17(GDPR)

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Decision AuthorityVG Potsdam
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 Therefore, the arrest was revoked by the Italian Court of Appeal in Brescia.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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