This document is an excerpt from the EUR-Lex website
Document 62018CA0511
Joined Cases C-511/18, C-512/18 and C-520/18: Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 6 October 2020 (requests for a preliminary ruling from the Conseil d’État, Constitutional Court — Belgium, France) — La Quadrature du Net (C-511/18 and C-512/18), French Data Network (C-511/18 and C-512/18), Fédération des fournisseurs d’accès à Internet associatifs (C-511/18 and C-512/18), Igwan.net (C-511/18) v Premier ministre (C-511/18 and C-512/18), Garde des Sceaux, ministre de la Justice (C-511/18 and C-512/18), Ministre de l’Intérieur (C-511/18), Ministre des Armées (C-511/18), Ordre des barreaux francophones et germanophone, Académie Fiscale ASBL, UA, Liga voor Mensenrechten ASBL, Ligue des Droits de l’Homme ASBL, VZ, WY, XX v Conseil des ministres (Reference for a preliminary ruling — Processing of personal data in the electronic communications sector — Providers of electronic communications services — Hosting service providers and Internet access providers — General and indiscriminate retention of traffic and location data — Automated analysis of data — Real-time access to data — Safeguarding national security and combating terrorism — Combating crime — Directive 2002/58/EC — Scope — Article 1(3) and Article 3 — Confidentiality of electronic communications — Protection — Article 5 and Article 15(1) — Directive 2000/31/EC — Scope — Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union — Articles 4, 6, 7, 8 and 11 and Article 52(1) — Article 4(2) TEU)
Joined Cases C-511/18, C-512/18 and C-520/18: Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 6 October 2020 (requests for a preliminary ruling from the Conseil d’État, Constitutional Court — Belgium, France) — La Quadrature du Net (C-511/18 and C-512/18), French Data Network (C-511/18 and C-512/18), Fédération des fournisseurs d’accès à Internet associatifs (C-511/18 and C-512/18), Igwan.net (C-511/18) v Premier ministre (C-511/18 and C-512/18), Garde des Sceaux, ministre de la Justice (C-511/18 and C-512/18), Ministre de l’Intérieur (C-511/18), Ministre des Armées (C-511/18), Ordre des barreaux francophones et germanophone, Académie Fiscale ASBL, UA, Liga voor Mensenrechten ASBL, Ligue des Droits de l’Homme ASBL, VZ, WY, XX v Conseil des ministres (Reference for a preliminary ruling — Processing of personal data in the electronic communications sector — Providers of electronic communications services — Hosting service providers and Internet access providers — General and indiscriminate retention of traffic and location data — Automated analysis of data — Real-time access to data — Safeguarding national security and combating terrorism — Combating crime — Directive 2002/58/EC — Scope — Article 1(3) and Article 3 — Confidentiality of electronic communications — Protection — Article 5 and Article 15(1) — Directive 2000/31/EC — Scope — Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union — Articles 4, 6, 7, 8 and 11 and Article 52(1) — Article 4(2) TEU)
Joined Cases C-511/18, C-512/18 and C-520/18: Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 6 October 2020 (requests for a preliminary ruling from the Conseil d’État, Constitutional Court — Belgium, France) — La Quadrature du Net (C-511/18 and C-512/18), French Data Network (C-511/18 and C-512/18), Fédération des fournisseurs d’accès à Internet associatifs (C-511/18 and C-512/18), Igwan.net (C-511/18) v Premier ministre (C-511/18 and C-512/18), Garde des Sceaux, ministre de la Justice (C-511/18 and C-512/18), Ministre de l’Intérieur (C-511/18), Ministre des Armées (C-511/18), Ordre des barreaux francophones et germanophone, Académie Fiscale ASBL, UA, Liga voor Mensenrechten ASBL, Ligue des Droits de l’Homme ASBL, VZ, WY, XX v Conseil des ministres (Reference for a preliminary ruling — Processing of personal data in the electronic communications sector — Providers of electronic communications services — Hosting service providers and Internet access providers — General and indiscriminate retention of traffic and location data — Automated analysis of data — Real-time access to data — Safeguarding national security and combating terrorism — Combating crime — Directive 2002/58/EC — Scope — Article 1(3) and Article 3 — Confidentiality of electronic communications — Protection — Article 5 and Article 15(1) — Directive 2000/31/EC — Scope — Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union — Articles 4, 6, 7, 8 and 11 and Article 52(1) — Article 4(2) TEU)
IO C 433, 14.12.2020, p. 3–5
(BG, ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, HR, IT, LV, LT, HU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SL, FI, SV)
14.12.2020 |
EN |
Official Journal of the European Union |
C 433/3 |
Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 6 October 2020 (requests for a preliminary ruling from the Conseil d’État, Constitutional Court — Belgium, France) — La Quadrature du Net (C-511/18 and C-512/18), French Data Network (C-511/18 and C-512/18), Fédération des fournisseurs d’accès à Internet associatifs (C-511/18 and C-512/18), Igwan.net (C-511/18) v Premier ministre (C-511/18 and C-512/18), Garde des Sceaux, ministre de la Justice (C-511/18 and C-512/18), Ministre de l’Intérieur (C-511/18), Ministre des Armées (C-511/18), Ordre des barreaux francophones et germanophone, Académie Fiscale ASBL, UA, Liga voor Mensenrechten ASBL, Ligue des Droits de l’Homme ASBL, VZ, WY, XX v Conseil des ministres
(Joined Cases C-511/18, C-512/18 and C-520/18) (1)
(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Processing of personal data in the electronic communications sector - Providers of electronic communications services - Hosting service providers and Internet access providers - General and indiscriminate retention of traffic and location data - Automated analysis of data - Real-time access to data - Safeguarding national security and combating terrorism - Combating crime - Directive 2002/58/EC - Scope - Article 1(3) and Article 3 - Confidentiality of electronic communications - Protection - Article 5 and Article 15(1) - Directive 2000/31/EC - Scope - Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union - Articles 4, 6, 7, 8 and 11 and Article 52(1) - Article 4(2) TEU)
(2020/C 433/03)
Language of the case: French
Referring courts
Conseil d’État, Cour constitutionnelle
Parties to the main proceedings
(Cases C-511/18 and C-512/18)
Applicants: La Quadrature du Net (C-511/18 and C-512/18), French Data Network (C-511/18 and C-512/18), Fédération des fournisseurs d’accès à Internet associatifs (C-511/18 and C-512/18), Igwan.net (C-511/18)
Defendants: Premier ministre (C-511/18 and C 512/18), Garde des Sceaux, ministre de la Justice (C-511/18 and C-512/18), Ministre de l’Intérieur (C-511/18), Ministre des Armées (C-511/18)
Interveners: Privacy International (C-512/18), Center for Democracy and Technology (C-512/18)
(Case C-520/18)
Applicants: Ordre des barreaux francophones et germanophone, Académie Fiscale ASBL, UA, Liga voor Mensenrechten ASBL, Ligue des Droits de l’Homme ASBL, VZ, WY, XX
Defendants: Conseil des ministres
Intervener: Child Focus (C 520/18)
Operative part of the judgment
1. |
Article 15(1) of Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2002 concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (Directive on privacy and electronic communications), as amended by Directive 2009/136/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009, read in the light of Articles 7, 8 and 11 and Article 52(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, must be interpreted as precluding legislative measures which, for the purposes laid down in Article 15(1), provide, as a preventive measure, for the general and indiscriminate retention of traffic and location data. By contrast, Article 15(1) of Directive 2002/58, as amended by Directive 2009/136, read in the light of Articles 7, 8 and 11 and Article 52(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, does not preclude legislative measures that:
provided that those measures ensure, by means of clear and precise rules, that the retention of data at issue is subject to compliance with the applicable substantive and procedural conditions and that the persons concerned have effective safeguards against the risks of abuse. |
2. |
Article 15(1) of Directive 2002/58, as amended by Directive 2009/136, read in the light of Articles 7, 8 and 11 and Article 52(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, must be interpreted as not precluding national rules which requires providers of electronic communications services to have recourse, first, to the automated analysis and real-time collection, inter alia, of traffic and location data and, second, to the real-time collection of technical data concerning the location of the terminal equipment used, where:
|
3. |
Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market (‘Directive on electronic commerce’), must be interpreted as not being applicable in the field of the protection of the confidentiality of communications and of natural persons as regards the processing of personal data in the context of information society services, such protection being governed by Directive 2002/58, as amended by Directive 2009/136, or by 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, as appropriate. Article 23(1) of Regulation 2016/679, read in the light of Articles 7, 8 and 11 and Article 52(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, must be interpreted as precluding national legislation which requires that providers of access to online public communication services and hosting service providers retain, generally and indiscriminately, inter alia, personal data relating to those services; |
4. |
A national court may not apply a provision of national law empowering it to limit the temporal effects of a declaration of illegality, which it is bound to make under that law, in respect of national legislation imposing on providers of electronic communications services — with a view to, inter alia, safeguarding national security and combating crime — an obligation requiring the general and indiscriminate retention of traffic and location data that is incompatible with Article 15(1) of Directive 2002/58, as amended by Directive 2009/136, read in the light of Articles 7, 8 and 11 and Article 52(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Article 15(1), interpreted in the light of the principle of effectiveness, requires national criminal courts to disregard information and evidence obtained by means of the general and indiscriminate retention of traffic and location data in breach of EU law, in the context of criminal proceedings against persons suspected of having committed criminal offences, where those persons are not in a position to comment effectively on that information and that evidence and they pertain to a field of which the judges have no knowledge and are likely to have a preponderant influence on the findings of fact. |