CJEU case C‑333/22 Ligue des droits humains (Verification by the supervisory authority of data processing) – CJEU Judgment (European Union, 2023)

In 2016 a data subject sought security clearance from the National Security Authority ("NSA") to participate in an event. The clearance was refused because of the personal data they held on the data subject. According to this data, the data subject had participated in 10 demonstrations between 2007 and 2016 which prevented him from being granted clearance. This fact was not disputed by the data subject. As required by Article 17 Directive 2016/680 (the "Law Enforcement Directive" or "LED"), as implemented by Article 42 of the Belgian implementation law, the data subject requested the Supervisory Body for Police Information ("OCIP" or "Supervisory Authority") to provide access to all the personal data the NSA held on him so that he could exercise his rights as a data subject. In reply, OCIP responded that the data subject only has an indirect right of access to that data and that OCIP itself would verify the lawfulness of its processing by the NSA. Having carried out the necessary checks, and in a narrow application of Article 17(3) LED,Directive (EU) 2016/680, the data protection law enforcement directive (LED), ensures the protection of personal data of individuals involved in criminal proceedings, be it as witnesses, victims or suspects. the OCIP informed the data subject that if necessary, the personal data had been amended or erased' from the police data banks.' This response did not give the data subject enough information to understand OCIP's decision. The data subject (in conjunction with Ligues des droits humains) filed an appeal before the Brussels First Instance Court. They asked, firstly, if the LED precluded national legislation to allow for judicial remedies against the decisions taken by the OCIP. Secondly, they asked for access to all the data subject’s personal data and the identification of the controllers and any recipients of the data. Lastly, they asked if national legislation could derogate from the right of access and allow the OCIP to merely s