Belgian Supreme Court, 29 April 2016, ref. C.15.0052.F

Document type
Court Decision
Country
Axel
Beelen

Nearly two years after the European Court of Justice has issued its famous judgment on the right to be forgotten, in its famous Google Spain Case, the Belgian Court of Cassation has for the first time decided itself on the matter (Cass. 29 April 2016, n° C.15.0052.F).

On 29th April 2016, the Belgian Court decided that the right to privacy and right to be forgotten expressed by the claimant justify the limitation of the right to freedom of expression from the newspaper Le Soir. Therefore, Le Soir was ordered to remove the name of the applicant from the archives section of its printed newspaper.

According to the Court, the right to be forgotten is a component of the right of personal privacy (Article 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms). The protection of the right to privacy allows this limitation to the right of freedom of expression. The limitation is founded in Articles 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and 22 of the Belgian Constitution.

Country
Topic, claim, or defense
Privacy or Data Protection
Right to Be Forgotten
Document type
Court Decision
Issuing entity
Highest Domestic/National (including State) Court
Type of service provider
Other
OSP obligation considered
Block or Remove
Type of law
Civil
General effect on immunity
Mixed/Neutral/Unclear