Brkan, Maja --- "The Court of Justice of the EU, privacy and data protection: Judge-made law as a leitmotif in fundamental rights protection" [2017] ELECD 672; in Brkan, Maja; Psychogiopoulou, Evangelia (eds), "Courts, Privacy and Data Protection in the Digital Environment" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) 10

Book Title: Courts, Privacy and Data Protection in the Digital Environment

Editor(s): Brkan, Maja; Psychogiopoulou, Evangelia

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781784718701

Section: Chapter 2

Section Title: The Court of Justice of the EU, privacy and data protection: Judge-made law as a leitmotif in fundamental rights protection

Author(s): Brkan, Maja

Number of pages: 22

Abstract/Description:

This chapter explores the role of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) with regard to the European Union (EU) fundamental rights of privacy and data protection and identifies the main characteristics of the case law on the interpretation and protection of those two fundamental rights. The underlying hypothesis is that the CJEU plays a crucial role in the development and interpretation of these two fundamental rights and has an extensive influence on the fundamental rights doctrine. Against this backdrop, this chapter addresses issues of delimitation between the fundamental right to privacy and the fundamental right to data protection; the issue of conform interpretation of EU and national legislation with fundamental rights to privacy and data protection; how the CJEU’s case law deals with the issue of balancing between different fundamental rights and interests; and how the CJEU tackles cases of ‘strategic litigation’ focusing on law and policy reform in the field of privacy and data protection. Finally, the conclusion presents the results of the research, focusing on the question whether the underlying hypothesis should be rejected or confirmed. Keywords: Court of Justice of the EU, fundamental rights, privacy and data protection, conform interpretation, balancing, strategic litigation.