YS – CJEU Judgment (European Union, 2014)

This decision ruled about two joined cases which concern third country people who applied for a residence permit in the Netherlands. In immigration procedures in the Netherlands, when deciding on an application for asylum, the officer in charge of an application drafts a decision and a minute which contains a justification of the decision for internal purpose. This minute contains information such as name, date of birth, ethnicity, religion and gender. It also includes a legal analysis which consists in an assessment of the information in the light of the legal provisions. These minutes were made available upon request until it the administration realised the amount of work it represented. From July 2009, the requests for communication of the minutes were therefore systematically refused and the administration provided a summary of the personal data contained in the document. The two applicants for residency requested a copy of the minute, which the administration refused. They only received the summary of personal data included in the documents. Both applicants contested this refusal with two different District Courts. These procedures were joint and several questions were referred to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling. The Court summarized these questions as follows: 1) The referring courts ask whether Article 2(a) of Directive 95/46 must be interpreted as meaning that the data relating to the applicant for a residence permit and the legal analysis included in the minute are ‘personal data’ within the meaning of that provision. 2) Does the protection of the rights and freedoms of others, within the meaning of Article 13(1)(g) of [Directive 95/46] …, also cover the interest in an internal undisturbed exchange of views within the public authority concerned? If the answer to that is in the negative, can that interest then be covered by Article 13(1)(d) or (f) of that directive? 3) The referring courts ask whether Article 12(a) of Directive 95/46 and Ar