- Enforcing jurisdiction
- Belgium · Geography does not establish applicable law.
- Confirmed applicable legislation
- Privacy topics
Gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit – Court Ruling (Belgium, 2023)
Privacy enforcement record
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A Belgian court dismissed a complaint about the unlawful access of professional emails by a data protection officer. The court found that the complaint was part of a larger dispute and did not pose a high risk. This ruling clarifies the authority's discretion in handling complaints.
What happened
The court dismissed a complaint regarding the unlawful consultation of professional mailboxes.
Who was affected
The complainants, who alleged their professional emails were accessed without consent, were affected.
What the authority found
The court upheld the DPA's decision, stating there was no high risk involved and the complaint was part of a broader dispute.
Why this matters
This case illustrates the independence of data protection authorities in handling complaints. It shows that not all complaints will lead to action, especially if they are deemed to be part of larger issues.
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on 21 April 2022, the complainants filed a complaint with the data protection authority alleging the unlawful consultation of their professional mailboxes by the DPO of defendant when investigating the leak of an internal mail to a trade union organization, ACV. The complainants state that they were not aware of this processing and that it should not have happened without their consent. The disputes chamber has dismissed the complaint on the grounds of (i) the absence of a high risk within the meaning of Article 35.5 GDPR and (ii) the fact that the present complaint is only a side dispute that is part of a broader trade union dispute for which it is not competent . When appealing against the decision of the litigation chamber, the complainants rely on the following defenses: (i) violation of the dismissal policy of the litigation chamber; (ii) violation of the right to participate during the pre-litigation phase and ask the court to annul the contested decision and order the data protection authority to pay the costs of the proceedings. Regarding the motivation of the dismissal, the litigation chamber admits that due to a technical error, the contested decision once refers incorrectly to a 'technical dismissal', while it is clear that they mean a dismissal for reasons of expediency, since the litigation chamber considers a hearing on the merits undesirable and refers to 3.2.1. of the dismissal policy that deals with the dismissal for reasons of expediency. The court follows the reasoning of the DPA and dismisses this part of the complaint. the Court of Appeal refers within this framework to an earlier judgment that the DPA, as a supervisory authority, is completely independent under Article 52 GDPR in the performance of the tasks and powers entrusted to it and, as a result, has a discretionary power to decide whether or not to dismiss a complaint. With regard to violating the adversarial debate, the law establishing the data protection authority makes a clear dist
Outcome
Court Ruling
A ruling by a national court on a data-protection matter.
Related Cases (1)
Other cases involving Gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit in BE
Details
Ruling Date
1 March 2023
Authority
Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens
About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. Gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit - Belgium (2023). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
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