Law of the European Union

European Parliament and Council Directive 2015/900 (fictitious) sets out the conditions under which, in the context of free movement of

personal data, EU Member States can retain personal data processed in connection with the provision of public electronic communication

services for specific public order purposes i.e. to safeguard national security or for the prevention, investigation, detection and

prosecution of serious criminal offences. Directive 2015/900 (the Directive) entered into legal force on 1 December 2015. It must be

transposed into national law by 1 December 2017. The legal basis for the Directive is Article 114 TFEU. In its preamble, the Directive

refers to Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU (the Charter).

The purpose of the Directive is to establish an EU-wide framework for limited data retention by Member States that is compatible with the

rights to privacy and protection of personal data as guaranteed by the Charter. The Directive was introduced as a response to the Court of

Justice’s (CJEU’s) ruling that the original Data Retention Directive 2006/24 was invalid in Joined Cases C-293/12 and C-594/12 Digital

Rights Ireland and Seitlinger and Others. The main provisions in the Directive are essentially the same as for Directive 2006/24.

However, the Directive contains the following new “safeguards” that are designed to address concerns expressed by the CJEU in its ruling:
(a) national authorities are only permitted to retain personal data for the purposes of safeguarding national security and fighting

against serious crime. The data cannot be used for any other purpose;
(b) access to the data is dependent on prior review by a court or an independent administrative body;
(c) data can be retained for a minimum period of three months and a maximum period of twelve months;
(d) data must be retained within the EU.

You have been hired to advise Digital Privacy UK (DPUK) a (fictitious) organisation dedicated to the protection of personal data in the

UK.

DPUK would like to know if the Directive, like its predecessor, amounts to a particularly serious interference with fundamental rights to

respect for private life and protection of personal data, or if, because of the new “safeguards”, unlike its predecessor, it is a

proportionate measure in the general interest, namely the fight against serious crime and, ultimately, public security?

You have been asked to advise on the Digital Rights Ireland case and any otherrelevant cases on:
• the scope of the right to privacy and the protection of personal data under the Charter in the context of the protection of human

rights in the EU;
• the application of the general provisions of the Charter and the Charter explanations;
• the application of the principle of proportionality in the context of justifications for limitations of the scope of rights under

the Charter.

You are not expected to advise DPUK on the detail of data protection law or internal market law.

Finally, if you advise that the Directive is, or may be, invalid, you are also asked to briefly advise on the options for challenging it

by way of an action in the UK courts or via a direct action before the CJEU.

Deadline for submission – on or before Tuesday 12 January 2016 – latest submission is 4 p.m. on that day – to the School of Law Office
Specific requirements and further information

The essay must conform to the following formal requirements. The maximum length is 9 pages, in 10 point type, Verdana font, double spaced

with 2.5cm margins on each side of the page, and no footnotes (see below under referencing). Your essay must be word-processed. The pages

must be numbered. Please staple your essay in the top left-hand corner. Do not bind it or place it in any sort of folder. Essays must be

submitted to the School of Law Reception.

Referencing: Do not use footnotes or endnotes. Round brackets should be used for references in the text. Treaty provisions should be

referred to as follows: (Art 4(3) TEU), (Art 288 TFEU), (Art 8, Protocol No 2), (Art 51(1) CFREU) etc – no need for the full Treaty names.

Cases can be cited in abbreviated form so long as a full reference is contained in a separate table of cases at the end of the essay – so,

for example (Case C-376/98“Tobacco Advertising I”) – but in the table of cases you should cite: Case C-376/98Germany v Parliament and

Council (Tobacco Advertising I) [2000] ECR I-8419. The same applies to legislation – so, for example, in the text (Art 4, Reg 1049/2001)

but in a separate table of legislation you should cite: Regulation 1049/2001, OJ 2001, L145/43. Any references to literature should also

be inserted in abbreviated form in the text, thus: (Chalmers 2014: 125), 125 being the page number for the citation. If you refer to

secondary literature, a separate bibliography must be attached, in which references are listed in full, thus: Chalmers, Davies & Monti,

European Union Law , 3rded (Cambridge: CUP, 2014); Von Bogdandy, ‘The European Union as a Human Rights Organization?’ (2000) 37 Common

Market Law Review 1307 etc. All materials consulted in writing your essay should be included in the bibliography.

Tables of cases and legislation, and any bibliography, do not count as part of the maximum page limit. These tables should be submitted on

separate pages at the back of the essay.

Examiners reserve the right to return essays unmarked if they do not comply with these requirements.

NB: You are reminded of the University rules to the effect that computer failure is not an excuse for missing a coursework deadline. LEAVE

ENOUGH TIME TO ALLOW FOR COMPUTER/PRINTER PROBLEMS.

Remember late coursework is subject to standard University penalties of 5%per normal working day of late submission. For example, a piece

of work with an original mark of 67% will be successively reduced to 62%, 57%, 52%,47% etc according to how many days late it was

submitted. Normal working days include vacation periods, but not weekends or public holidays.

Further information
For those proceeding to the second semester, the mark for the first semester assessment will be factored in to the examination mark, but

only where the composite mark would exceed the examination mark. (The composite mark is composed of 25% for the January assessment and 75%

for the examination).For those students who do not proceed to the second semester, this is their final assessment for Law of the EU Law A.