The proceduralisation of data protection remedies under EU data protection law: towards a more effective and data subject-oriented remedial system?

The right to remedy breaches of data protection is laid down in both Directive 95/46/EC (Art. 22) and the Council of Europe Data Protection Convention no. 108 (Art. 8 (d)). Although data protection violations are remedied mainly at the national level, it is possible to identify a set of procedural rules on how to remedy data protection violations under EU law. Currently, there is a three-layered remedial system in place (composed of access rights, the administrative system and the court system). Worthy of attention are the EU’s data protection reforms which will introduce new provisions aimed at ‘proceduralising’ data protection remedies. This paper investigates how data protection breaches are remedied in the EU and under EU law in light of Directive 95/46/EC and the proposed reforms.