CJEU Advocate General Finds That Data Subjects May in Parallel Lodge a Complaint with a Supervisory Authority and Start Proceedings Before a Court
On September 8, 2022, the Advocate General (AG) of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) opined that data subjects should be able to lodge a complaint with a Supervisory Authority against a controller/processor for allegedly breaching the GDPR and, in parallel, lodge judicial redress proceedings against the same controller/processor for damages resulting from the alleged GDPR violation.
The case that was referred to the CJEU relates to a shareholder’s request to access audio recordings of a company meeting. The company provided the shareholder only with extracts of his/her interventions. Subsequently, the shareholder filed a complaint with the Hungarian Supervisory Authority for a breach of his/her right of access and asking the Supervisory Authority to order the company to disclose additional recordings. The Supervisory Authority rejected the complaint. As a result, the shareholder appealed the Supervisory Authority’s decision before a court and in parallel initiated separate judicial proceedings against the company asking for remedies for damages suffered.
