7.9.2020

Official Journal of the European Union

C 297/27

(Case C-245/20)

(2020/C 297/36)

Language of the case: Dutch

Referring court

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicants: X, Z

Defendant: Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens

Question referred

1.Is Article 55(3) of the General Data Protection Regulation (1) to be interpreted as meaning that ‘processing operations of courts acting in their judicial capacity’ can be understood to mean the provision by a judicial authority of access to procedural documents containing personal data, where such access is granted by making copies of those procedural documents available to a journalist, as described in the present order for reference?

a.In answering that question, is it relevant whether the national supervisory authority’s supervision of that form of data processing affects independent judicial decisions in specific cases?

b.In answering that question, is it relevant that, according to the judicial authority, the nature and purpose of the data processing is to inform a journalist in order to enable the journalist to better report on a public hearing in court proceedings, thereby serving the interests of openness and transparency in the administration of justice?

c.In answering that question, is it relevant whether there is any express legal basis for such data processing under national law?

Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (GDPR) (OJ 2016 L 119, p. 1).

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(1) Language of the case: Dutch.