By Resolution 043-2024 on February 27, 2024, the Plenary Session of the Council of the Judiciary issued the Regulations for Processing Personal Data in Judicial Proceedings.
The relevant points are:
Purpose:
- To safeguard the rights to honor, good name, protection of personal data, and non-discrimination on the basis of having a criminal record.
Processing:
- With due confidentiality and diligence, judges can consider suppressing judicial orders or decisions that contain sensitive data.
- Judges must consider the processing of personal data within judicial proceedings that have been subject to an order of acquittal or ratifying judgment of innocence.
Eligibility to request the amendment, rectification or suppression of personal data:
- Data subjects who are parties to a case or who are legal representatives.
Procedure to make a request:
- The request must be made to the judge or court in charge of the case.
- The request must be in writing and be submitted through the online Judicial Management Office or at service points at court premises.
Analysis and execution of the request:
- The rationale for the amendment, rectification or suppression of personal data will be analyzed considering the principles of the Organic Law on Personal Data Protection and the principle of public access to judicial proceedings as contained in the Constitution.
- The judges must analyze the appropriateness of the requests.
- The judicial proceeding has been closed.
- The judicial proceeding has gone through several levels of court, and the request must be made to the different competent judges.
Conclusion:
The Regulations contain specific provisions on the protection of personal data. Direct application of the provisions lies with the Judicial Branch and its judicial, administrative and jurisdictional public officials. The aim of the Regulations is to regulate the appropriate processing of data by secretaries of the Judicial Units in their capacity as attestors of the information, and thus execute the amendment, rectification or suppression of the personal data of the data subjects, provided they have the respective instructions and authorization from the judges. The judges will handle the duly supported requests of the data subjects, for each instance, and they will make a well-considered decision about the appropriateness of public access regarding the processing of the data subjects’ data. Lastly, as a general provision, only the personal data of individuals who have been subject to an order of acquittal or ratifying judgment of innocence can be suppressed sua sponte to protect their personal data rights.
For more information, please contact us at: protecciondedatos@pbplaw.com
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