The Federal Constitutional Court of Germany has dismissed three lawsuits against the German data retention. Three further lawsuits are still pending, according to dpa.
The main reason given for the refusal was that the plaintiffs had not explained the extent to which they still needed legal protection following the decision of the European Court of Justice of September 20, 2022. In the aforementioned judgment, the Court had ruled that, among other things, the current German regulation on data retention was not compatible with EU law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The Court also named the legal passages that the plaintiffs had criticized in their lawsuit before the Federal Constitutional Court.
The Constitutional Court emphasized that the ECJ’s decision meant that the German regulation was not compatible with EU law.
Some of the plaintiffs expressed their delight at the decision of the German Constitutional Court.
Dismissed were at least the complaints of the association Digitalcourage, as well as MEP Dr. Patrick Breyer. According to information from Dr. Breyer decisions of the Federal Constitutional Court are pending for lawsuits of representatives of the of the German Green Party, the German liberal party FDP, and 22 more complainants are still pending.