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According to the Judgment (14.12.2023) of the Court of Justice in Case C-340/21 (Natsionalna agentsia za prihodite), the fear of a possible misuse of personal data is capable, in itself, of constituting non-material damage. The Bulgarian National Revenue Agency (the NAP) is attached to the Bulgarian Minister for Finance. In particular, it is responsible for identifying, securing and recovering public debts. In this context, it is a personal data controller. On 15 July 2019, the media reported an intrusion into the NAP IT system, revealing that, following that cyberattack, personal data concerning millions of persons had been published on the internet. Many individuals brought legal actions against the NAP for compensation for non-material damage caused by the fear that their data might be misused.  The Bulgarian Supreme Administrative Court refers several questions to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling on the interpretation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) .

Following the  EDPB’surgent binding decision of October 27th 2023 , the Irish data protection authority (IE DPA) adopted its final decision on 10 November 2023, imposing a ban on Meta Ireland Limited (Meta IE) for the processing of personal data for behavioural advertising purposes on the basis of contract and legitimate interest.  The EDPB urgent binding decision followed a request from the Norwegian Data Protection Authority (NO DPA) to order final measures in this matter which would have effect in the entire European Economic Area (EEA). EDPB Chair Anu Talus said: “ After careful consideration, the EDPB considered it necessary to instruct the IE DPA to impose an EEA-wide processing ban, addressed to Meta IE. Already in December 2022, the EDPB Binding Decisions clarified that contract is not a suitable legal basis for the processing of personal data carried out by Meta for behavioural advertising. In addition, Meta has been found by the IE DPA to not have demonstrated compliance wi

Vacancy in World Intellectual Property Organisation: Legal Officer - 23363-FT / Business Development and Digital Content Disputes Section, WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, IP and Innovation Ecosystems Sector. Grade - P3 / Contract Duration - 2 years / Duty Station : CH-Geneva/ Application Deadline: 03-Jan-2024, 12:59:00 AM / Total salary:  $114,538 Coordinating with other vertical and horizontal WIPO sectors, the IP and Innovation Ecosystems Sector (IES) is responsible for helping Member States develop their IP and innovation ecosystems to drive enterprise and economic growth. IES is also responsible for providing support for researchers and innovators, as well as enterprises, including SMEs, in IP commercialization and otherwise using IP for business growth; issues relating to the emergence of IP as an asset class; and the development of advisory expertise in these and related areas, for example, in national IP strategies. Within IES, the position is located in the Busines

The European Ombudsman has opened an inquiry into how the European Commission ensures EU funds granted to Greece for border management do not contribute to fundamental rights violations. The inquiry follows a complaint from civil society organisations, which alleges that funding allocated to Greece through the EU’s Internal Security Fund (ISF) is contributing to human rights violations on the country’s border with Türkiye. The complainants argue that the Commission has failed to investigate persistent allegations of rights violations caused by the misuse of ISF funds by Greek beneficiaries. As a first step, the Ombudsman has sent a series of questions to the Commission. They cover topics such as what measures the Commission has in place to monitor ISF spending, if allegations of fundamental rights violations have had an impact in its approach to allocating new EU funds to Greece, and what procedures it has in place to enforce fundamental rights requirements when it comes to funding

An important decision was issued by the District Court of Limassol in Cyprus, which ruled in favor of the plaintiff, a Russian depositor of Laiki Bank, awarding damages of €780,832.90 for the "haircut" of deposits that took place in Cyprus in 2013, an amount which must be paid by the Central Bank and the Republic of Cyprus. This decision is the first to recognize the responsibility of the Republic of Cyprus and its obligation to pay compensation for the impairment of bank deposits made in Cyprus in 2013, after a number of rejection decisions on lawsuits brought by depositors who saw the savings of a lifetime to disappear overnight. The decision states in its conclusion: "The conclusion of the Court is that the impairment of the plaintiff's deposits was due to the negligent actions of the Central Bank (means the Republic of Cyprus) and the serious negligence of the CBC (means the Central Bank of Cyprus) and not for reasons relating to the rules of the market. The

According to Judgment (16.11.2023) of the European Court of Justice in Case C-333/22 (Ligue des droits humains) as regards the processing of personal data, decisions taken by a supervisory authority in the context of the indirect exercise of the rights of the data subject are legally binding. A court must be able to verify the grounds and the evidence on which they are based.  A citizen requests the Belgian autorité nationale de sécurité (National Security Authority) to issue him, for professional purposes, security clearance. He is refused that document on the ground that he had participated in demonstrations. Relying on his right of access to his data, that citizen makes a request to the Organe de contrôle de l’information policière (the Supervisory Body for Police Information), which informs him that he has only indirect access and that it will itself verify the lawfulness of the processing of his data. However, at the end of that verification, as allowed under Belgian law, that bod

On 27 October, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) adopted an urgent binding decision instructing the Irish (IE) DPA as lead supervisory authority (LSA) to take, within two weeks, final measures regarding Meta Ireland Limited (Meta IE) and to impose a ban on the processing of personal data for behavioural advertising on the legal bases of contract and legitimate interest across the entire European Economic Area (EEA) . The urgent binding decision followed a request from the Norwegian Data Protection Authority (NO DPA) to take final measures in this matter that would have effect in the entire European Economic Area (EEA). The ban on processing will become effective one week after the notification of the final measures by the IE SA to the controller. The Irish DPC has notified Meta on 31/10 about the EDPB Urgent Binding Decision. The EDPB takes note of Meta's proposal to rely on a consent based approach as legal basis, as it was reported on 30/10. The Irish DPC is currentl

by Giorgos Kazoleas, Lawyer Nepotism in the legal profession is not only a domestic but a global phenomenon with timeless characteristics. Lack of meritocracy and favouritism during the process of recruitment and professional development of lawyers have common sources of nepotism and clientelism. Even in countries with advanced legal systems, such as the USA, the phenomenon of placing relatives and friends in high positions in law firms is very common. In the southern countries of Europe, nepotism stems mainly from family-oriented concepts deeply rooted in the subconscious of the societies. In smaller populated countries the phenomenon of employers' relatives and friends being preferred for jobs in law firms is more than common. In countries like India, the phenomenon of nepotism in the legal profession has particularly concerned the legal community, as there is a stronghold of a few privileged and powerful families which prevails  in the legal profession. Among lawyers and jud

In Chamber's judgment in the case of Pająk and Others v. Poland (applications nos. 25226/18, 25805/18, 8378/19 and 43949/19), the European Court of Human Rights held, by a majority (5 votes to 2), that there had been a violation of Article 6 § 1 (right of access to a court) of the European Convention on Human Rights in respect of all applicants, and a violation of Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) taken in conjunction with Article 8 (right to respect for private life) in respect of the three applicants who had lodged complaints under those provisions.  The case concerned four judges who complained about legislative amendments that had lowered the retirement age for judges from 67 to 60 for women, and to 65 for men, and had made the continuation of a judge’s duties after reaching retirement age conditional upon authorisation by the Minister of Justice and by the National Council of the Judiciary (“the NCJ”).  The Court took the view that judges should enjoy protection from

The Asser Institute, based in The Hague, and affiliated with the University of Amsterdam is seeking an enthusiastic Junior Researcher in International Human Rights Law on a full-time basis (38 hours per week/1 FTE – 32 hours per week also considered).  They will work on the ‘Enabling Civil Society Efforts to Address the Misuse, Diversion, and Abuse of Arms Exports in Latin America’ project and contribute to strengthen our research capacity regarding human rights and arms trade in Guatemala within the Research Strand on ‘ In the public interest: accountability of the state and the prosecution of crimes .’ The Junior Researcher will assist the Asser Project Leader, Senior Researcher  Dr León Castellanos-Jankiewicz  with research on the human rights implications of arms trafficking and diversion, including the development of instruction materials, conducting outreach with civil society organisations, organising conferences and delivering trainings. The Asser Institute is a research ce