Open AccessThe Directive 2006/24 declaration of invalidity and the consequences of metadata retention in the EU Member States: A Fundamental Rights Standards Approach
Author(s) -
Alessandra Silveira,
Pedro Miguel Freitas
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
revista de direito, estado e telecomunicações
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.188
H-Index - 3
eISSN - 1984-9729
pISSN - 1984-8161
DOI - 10.26512/lstr.v9i1.21513
Subject(s) - directive , declaration , political science , legislation , law , european union , fundamental rights , member states , preliminary ruling , metadata , european union law , order (exchange) , data protection directive , economic justice , data protection act 1998 , business , human rights , international trade , computer science , operating system , finance , programming language
Purpose – The text deals with the recent case law of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on the directive on the retention of data (metadata) by providers of electronic communications services for the purposes of investigation, detection and prosecution of serious crimes. The authors seek to clarify the implications of the declaration of invalidity of this European directive for the EU Member States, towards the protection of legal equality of European citizens.
Methodology/approach/design – The text was drafted while there was a pending ECJ’s response to the questions referred by two national courts (one Swedish and one British) on the effects of that invalidity decision on the domestic legislation that transposed it. Thus, the authors sought to anticipate the Court's decision in the light of its settled case law and the reaction of the Member States’ authorities’ after the declaration of invalidity of the referred directive.
Findings – In the light of the particularities of the protection of fundamental rights in the EU and the legal model of integration, the authors draw some guidelines as to the procedure to be followed in future cases in order to safeguard the effectiveness of the Union law, namely when it comes to the legal equality of European citizens.