Court case 16 A 1582/21 – Court Ruling (Germany, 2021)
General GDPR enforcement action
This case relates to broader data protection obligations, not specifically to cookie or consent banner compliance. It is not included in cookie statistics or the Risk Calculator.
A German court ruled that a law student should receive copies of his exam papers and examiners' reports for free. The court found that charging a fee violated GDPR rules on data access. This case sets a precedent for free access to personal data held by authorities.
What happened
A court ruled that a law student must receive free copies of his exam papers and examiners' reports.
Who was affected
The affected individual was a law student who had taken his second state law examination in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
What the authority found
The court held that the student was entitled to receive his exam papers and examiners' reports free of charge under GDPR Articles 15(3)(1) and 12(5)(1).
Why this matters
This ruling reinforces the right of individuals to access their personal data without incurring fees, setting a precedent for educational and other institutions handling personal data. It emphasizes the importance of compliance with GDPR's data access provisions.
GDPR Articles Cited
National Law Articles
The plaintiff took his second state law examination in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which consists of a (hand-)written part and a later oral part. He successfully completed the exam and did not challenge the assessment of his examination performance. After the examination was completed, i.e. after the oral examination, he requested the defendant, the State Judicial Examination Office (Landesjustizprüfungsamt, “LJPA”) send him the copies of his exams including the examiners’ opinions in electronic form or by post. The LJPA stated that it would only agree to this for a fee of €69.70 to be paid in advance. The claimant then renewed his claim and explicitly invoked Articles 15(3)(1) and 12(5) GDPR. The defendant again rejected this. In particular, he pointed out that the material scope of application of the GDPR did not apply. The plaintiff then filed an action. The court of first instance ruled in accordance with the application. The defendant appealed against this, which is the subject of this summary. The court dismissed the defendant's appeal. The court found that the defendant was obliged to provide the plaintiff with a copy of his exams prepared in the context of the second state law examination together with the examiners' reports in paper form or commonly used electronic form free of charge. The court first ruled that the claim to the provision of a free copy of his examination papers prepared in the second state law examination together with the examiners’ reports follows from Articles 15(3)(1), 12(5)(1) GDPR in conjunction with [http://www.lexsoft.de/cgi-bin/lexsoft/justizportal_nrw.cgi?xid=8080989,6 § 5(8)(1) of the Data Protection Act of North Rhine-Westphalia (DSG NRW)]. = The court first finds that Articles 15(3)(1), 12(5)(1) GDPR apply. However, it leaves open whether the material scope of application of the GDPR is opened or not opened due to Article 2(2)(a) GDPR. In any case, the applicability follows from [http://www.lexsoft.de/cgi-bin/lexso
Outcome
Court Ruling
A ruling by a national court on a data-protection matter.
Related Cases (0)
No other cases found for Court case 16 A 1582/21 in DE
This is the only recorded case for this entity in this jurisdiction.
Details
About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. Court case 16 A 1582/21 - Germany (2021). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
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