On July 10, 2024, the Austrian data protection authority (DSB) published a summary of the Supreme Court of Justice's (OGH) judgment in Case No. 6 Ob 143/23g of January 17, 2024, in which it rejected the plaintiff's appeal against the DSB for violation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Background to the decision 

The appellant had requested information from the DSB, with respect to Article 15(3) of the GDPR, regarding specified documents from an official investigation procedure. After the DSB announced that it would not provide these documents in the sense of releasing entire documents, the appellant filed a lawsuit against the DSB with the Innsbruck Regional Court. After one appeal by the DSB, the decision was subsequently taken to the OGH by the appellant.

Findings of the OGH

The OGH did not grant the appeal stating that the dual nature of legal protection in data protection law cannot be applied to the present case, since the present case concerned a private individual's claim for return against a supervisory authority acting in a sovereign capacity and not disputes between private individuals. The OGH added that legal protection in connection with actions or omissions by the DSB is not entrusted to the ordinary courts but to the administrative courts. With regard to the design of the modalities of the interaction of the legal remedies under the GDPR, the member states are in principle free.

Outcomes

In light of the above, the OGH did not grant the appeal. 

You can read the decision, only available in German, here.