Luxembourg Police – Court Ruling (Luxembourg, 2021)

An asylum seeker (X), born in Moldavia but having lived his entire childhood in Syria, applied for international protection in Luxembourg in November 2019. At the time of entry, X was still a minor and was accompanied by his mother. During the interrogation conducted by the police, X fainted and the police searched his phone without his consent, including pictures. In February and April 2021, whilst X had reached the legal age of majority, he was heard by an agent of the Ministry of Immigration regarding his situation and the reasons behind his request for international protection. On 1 June 2021, the Ministry rejected his request, on the ground that X had a connection with Moldavia, where he could return, in application of Article 28(2)(c) of the Luxembourg law of 18 December 2015 regarding international protection. X appealed that decision before the Administrative Tribunal of Luxembourg, arguing among others that the police force had illegally processed his personal data, including sensitive personal data, because they did not have any valid legal basis under Article 6 GDPR and/or Article 9 GDPR. Regarding the processing of personal data in general, the Tribunal first recalled that processing of personal data is allowed when such processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller (Article 6(1)(e) GDPR), as long as this is laid down in national law (Article 6(3)(b) GDPR). The Tribunal then looked into Article 12(5) of the Luxembourg law on Internal Protection, which states that: "The [police] may, if necessary, carry out a body search of the applicant and a search of the objects he is transporting. (...) [T]he body search of the applicant's shall be carried out by a person of the same sex, with full respect for the principles of human dignity and physical and psychological integrity. Any object useful for examining the request may be retained (...)." Having r