MR JUSTICE WARBY
Approved Judgment
NT1 & NT2 v Google LLC
all the circumstances was reasonably required to comply with
the requirement concerned.”
31.
I have placed s 13(2) in italics because, as the Court of Appeal held in Vidal-Hall v
Google Inc [2015] EWCA Civ 311 [2016] QB 1003, the sub-section fails effectively
to implement Article 23 of the DP Directive, and has to be disapplied because it is
incompatible with the Charter. Accordingly, compensation is recoverable under the
DPA for non-material damage, as well as material loss. It is helpful, in view of one of
the arguments I have to consider, to set out the steps in the Court of Appeal’s
conclusion:
“79. … article 23 of the Directive does not distinguish between
pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage. There is no linguistic
reason to interpret the word “damage” in article 23 as being
restricted to pecuniary damage. More importantly, for the
reasons we have given such a restrictive interpretation would
substantially undermine the objective of the Directive which is
to protect the right to privacy of individuals with respect to the
processing of their personal data.
…
84. …. if interpreted literally, section 13(2) has not effectively
transposed article 23 of the Directive into our domestic law. It
is in these circumstances that the question arises whether it is
nevertheless possible to interpret section 13(2) in a way which
is compatible with article 23 so as to permit the award of
compensation for distress by reason of a contravention of a
requirement of the 1998 Act even in circumstances which do
not satisfy the conditions set out in section 13(2) (a) or (b).
…
94. We cannot … interpret section 13(2) compatibly with
article 23.
95. Mr Tomlinson and Ms Proops [Counsel for the claimants
and the ICO] submit that section 13(2) should be disapplied on
the grounds that it conflicts with the rights guaranteed by
articles 7 and 8 of the Charter. We accept their submission. …
96. Article 47 of the Charter provides: “Right to an effective
remedy and to a fair trial. Everyone whose rights and freedoms
guaranteed by the law of the Union are violated has the right to
an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the
conditions laid down in this article.
97. Article 7 provides that “Everyone has the right to respect
for his or her private and family life, home and
communications”. Article 8(1) (as we have earlier noted)
provides that “Everyone has the right to the protection of
personal data concerning him or her”.