CE - 437808
| CE - 437808 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Court: | CE (France) |
| Jurisdiction: | France |
| Relevant Law: | Article 83 GDPR |
| Decided: | 01.03.2021 |
| Published: | 05.03.2021 |
| Parties: | Futura Internationale |
| National Case Number/Name: | 437808 |
| European Case Law Identifier: | ECLI:FR:CECHR:2021:437808.20210301 |
| Appeal from: | CNIL SAN-2019-010 |
| Appeal to: | Not appealed |
| Original Language(s): | French |
| Original Source: | Conseil d'Etat (in French) |
| Initial Contributor: | n/a |
The French Supreme Administrative Court (Conseil d'Etat) rejected Futura Internationale's appeal against the French DPA's decision to fine them €500,000. The Conseil d'Etat rejected the argument that the CNIL infringed the constitutional principle of non-retroactivity of the law by applying the GDPR and considered the fine proportionate.
English Summary
Facts
Futura Internationale appealed against the French DPA's decision to impose a fine of 500,000 EUR on Futura Internationale for sending unsolicited marketing communications.
Dispute
Did the French DPA breach the constitutional principle of non-retroactivity of the law by applying the GDPR?
Was the fine of €500,000 imposed by the French DPA proportionate?
Holding
The highest administrative court of France (Conseil d'Etat) dismissed the claim that even if the investigation by the (French DPA) CNIL started in March 2018, it continued after the date of entry into force of the GDPR. Futura Internationale was notified in October 2018. Therefore, the Court held that the French DPA (CNIL) applied the relevant law when applying the GDPR. There was not breach of the constitutional principle of non-retroactivity of the law by the CNIL.
The French Court then assessed Article 83 GDPR and reminded that Futura Internationale failed to comply with several GDPR obligations, including the principle of data minimisation, the obligation to inform data subjects, the obligation to respect the right to object, the obligation to cooperate with the DPA and the obligation to safeguard data transferred international. It held that the violation were particularly grave and persistent. Therefore, the Court concluded that the French DPA did not impose a disproportionate fine against Futura Internationale: 500,000 EUR fine was 2.5% of Futura Internationale's annual worldwide turnover.
Therefore, the French Court rejected Futura Internationale's appeal against the French DPA's decision.
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English Machine Translation of the Decision
The decision below is a machine translation of the French original. Please refer to the French original for more details.
