Advocate General at the EU Court of Justice: Opinion in Case C-333/22 Ligue des droit humains: Verification of data processing by supervisory authority

Thursday 15th June 2023

Opinion in Case C-333/22 Ligue des droit humains (Verification of processing of data by the supervisory authority)

(Approximation of Laws)

Directive (EU) 2016/680, better known as “the Law Enforcement Directive”, lays down specific rules on the protection of personal data and the free movement of those data in the fields of judicial cooperation in criminal matters and police cooperation and in essence, reflects the “specific nature of those fields”.

A reference for a preliminary ruling was made in the context of a dispute between the Ligue des droits humains and a private individual, BA, against the Belgian Supervisory Body for Police Information (OCIP). BA requested to exercise indirectly his right of access to his data processed by the police, to which the COC replied that it had carried out all necessary checks had been carried out and that, if necessary, data has been or deleted from police databases. Before the Court of Appeal, Brussels, Belgium, firstly, BA and the Ligue des droits humains are seeking access, through the OCIP, to BA’s personal data. Secondly, they request the OCIP to identify the data controllers and the possible recipients of this data.

The questions submitted for a preliminary ruling concern, in essence, judicial review of a decision by, or action of, a supervisory authority, and its scope and effectiveness in the situation where that authority exercises the rights of the data subject on behalf of that data subject, that is to say where the rights are exercised indirectly.

Background Documents C-333/22