Supreme Court to hear appeal by Data Protection Commission over €310m LinkedIn fine
LinkedIn alleges the DPC, in inflicting such a severe fine and other reprimand, was not exercising limited functions and powers of a judicial nature within the meaning of the Constitution. File picture
The Supreme Court will hear an appeal by the Data Protection Commission (DPC) relating to certain preliminary matters arising in LinkedIn’s challenge to the imposition of a €310m fine by the commission.
In October 2024, the DPC fined LinkedIn €310m for breaches of European data protection legislation.
LinkedIn subsequently initiated High Court proceedings challenging this decision.
In a judgment handed down in April, the High Court determined several preliminary issues in the proceedings.
The DPC has appealed to the Supreme Court on three such issues decided on by the High Court.
LinkedIn also seeks to bring a cross-appeal on another preliminary issue.
Granting permission for the appeal, a three-judge Supreme Court panel noted parties to the dispute agree that the issues raised in the High Court determination are matters of general public importance, a prerequisite for any case heard by the Supreme Court.
“[The case] will likely affect the approach to other statutory appeals; the DPC is the lead supervisory authority for GDPR [General Data Protection Regulation] purposes in this respect; the complaint in this case was initiated by a French non-profit organisation; the number of subscribers to LinkedIn runs to hundreds of millions, and the number of persons affected by the GDPR infringement found by the DPC was very significant indeed; and finally, the State had been permitted to participate in the hearing in the High Court precisely because of the significance of the issues involved,” the court said.
The panel also decided that the issues raised warranted a leapfrog appeal from the High Court.
Following the imposition of the fine, the Microsoft-owned company issued judicial review proceedings.
In those proceedings, LinkedIn alleges the DPC, in inflicting such a severe fine and other reprimand, was not exercising limited functions and powers of a judicial nature within the meaning of the Constitution.
The firm claims various sections of the 2018 Data Protection Act related to the commission’s powers are contrary to the Constitution, the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and the State’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.
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