Greece / Council of State/Decisions Nos. 1759-1760/2019 of the Plenary

Country

Greece

Title

Greece / Council of State/Decisions Nos. 1759-1760/2019 of the Plenary

View full Case

Year

2019

Decision/ruling/judgment date

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Incident(s) concerned/related

Discrimination

Related Bias motivation

Religion

Groups affected

Other religious groups

Court/Body type

National Court

Court/Body

Greek Council of State

Key facts of the case

Through Decisions nos. 1759-1760 / 2019 the Plenary of the Council of State repealed Nos. 92091 / D2 / 5.6.2018 (B '2087) and 92094 / D2 / 5.6.2018 (B' 2089) Decisions of the Minister of Education, insofar as they provided for students' religion to be included on high school diplomas, transcripts and certificates. The mandatory or optional inclusion of religion in the documents was considered to constitute a violation of Article 13 of the Hellenic Constitution (religious freedom), Article 9 of the ECHR, as well as the provisions of personal data protection legislation (Law 2472/1997 and General Regulation 2016/679).

Main reasoning/argumentation

The Court found that the inclusion of religion on school documents, whether compulsory or optional, violates the provisions of Article 9 of the ECHR, as there is no reason for a student's religion to be mentioned in the above documents, which, in view of their diverse uses, are not intended for the exercise of the right to manifest one's religious beliefs. In addition, any indication of religion in these documents could lead to discrimination against the individual in their professional relationships. Even the optional inclusion of a student's religion poses a risk for positive or negative discrimination between those who choose to disclose their religion and those who do not. On the other hand, the Court stated that according to the relevant provisions of Data Protection Law 2472/1997 and Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR), religious beliefs are personal and even sensitive data. Such data, as in this case religious beliefs, in order to be lawfully processed, must be collected in a legitimate and lawful manner for specified clear and legitimate purposes and must be treated applied according to the principle of proportionality solely for the purposes of specific processing. The inclusion of students’ religion in the above documents was found to constitute a form of processing of a personal nature which must meet the above requirements. However, the inclusion of religion infringes Article 13 (1) of the Constitution and Articles 9 and 14 of the ECHR and the contested decisions, which provide for the processing of sensitive personal data without any legitimate purpose, are in contradiction with the provisions of Articles 2 par. b, 4 par. 1 par. and b of Law 2472/1997 and 5 par. 1 par. a and b and 9 par. 1 of the GDPR.

Is the case related to the application of the Framework Decision on Racism and Xenophobia, the Racial Equality Directive?

Key issues (concepts, interpretations) clarified by the case

This is the first case of the Council of State which examined the protection of personal and sensitive data in light of the GDPR. Moreover, this case also showed that the inclusion of personal data on documents that certify an individual’s education might in fact lead to discrimination based on religion. The proportionality test applied by the court constitutes a useful tool for future cases.

Results (sanctions, outcome) and key consequences or implications of the case

Ministerial Decision No. 1458/Δ2 was issued by the Ministry of Education in September 2019 which abolished the inclusion of the religion and nationality of individuals on high school transcripts and diplomas. This was done in also in response to Decision No. 28/2019 of the Greek Data Protection Agency, which found that the contested Ministerial Decisions which called for the inclusion of a reference to high school students’ religion and nationality was unconstitutional. What is more, the Greek Data Protection Agency stated that apart from not meeting the criteria of the principles of proportionality and necessity for the processing of personal data, the inclusion of a reference to students’ religion on their high school diploma and transcripts could expose them to discrimination based on their religious beliefs, in violation of Article 13 of the Hellenic Constitution.

Key quotation in original language and its unofficial translation into English with reference details

“Σύμφωνα με τις οικείες διατάξεις του ν. 2472/1997 και ήδη του Κανονισμού 2016/679, οι θρησκευτικές πεποιθήσεις αποτελούν δεδομένο προσωπικού χαρακτήρα, και μάλιστα ευαίσθητο. Τα δεδομένα αυτά, όπως εν προκειμένω οι θρησκευτικές πεποιθήσεις, για να τύχουν νόμιμης επεξεργασίας, πρέπει να συλλέγονται κατά τρόπο θεμιτό και νόμιμο για καθορισμένους σαφείς και νόμιμους σκοπούς και να υφίστανται θεμιτή και νόμιμη επεξεργασία εν όψει των σκοπών αυτών, καθώς και να είναι συναφή, πρόσφορα και όχι περισσότερα από όσα κάθε φορά απαιτείται ενόψει των σκοπών της επεξεργασίας. Η καταχώριση του θρησκεύματος των μαθητών στο απολυτήριο, τα αποδεικτικά σπουδών και τα πιστοποιητικά σπουδών του γυμνασίου και του γενικού λυκείου, ανεξαρτήτως αν είναι υποχρεωτική ή προαιρετική, συνιστά μορφή επεξεργασίας δεδομένου προσωπικού χαρακτήρα που πρέπει να πληροί τις πιο πάνω προϋποθέσεις. Όμως, εφόσον η αναγραφή αυτή παραβιάζει, κατά τα ανωτέρω, το άρθρο 13 παρ. 1 του Συντάγματος και τα άρθρα 9 και 14 της ΕΣΔΑ, οι προσβαλλόμενες αποφάσεις, με τις οποίες προβλέπεται επεξεργασία ευαίσθητου προσωπικού δεδομένου χωρίς να υπάρχει νόμιμος σκοπός, έρχεται σε αντίθεση με τις διατάξεις των άρθρων 2 περ. β, 4 παρ. 1 περ.α και β του ν. 2472/1997 και 5 παρ. 1 περ. α και β και 9 παρ. 1 του Κανονισμού 2016/679.”

“According to the relevant provisions of Law 2472/1997 and Regulation 2016/679, religious beliefs are personal and even sensitive data. Such data, as in this case of religious beliefs, in order to be lawfully processed, must be collected in a legitimate and lawful manner for specified clear and legitimate purposes and must be treated legitimately and legally in the light of those purposes, since in order for it to be relevant, appropriate and no more than what is each time required for the purposes of processing. The inclusion of students' religion in the diplomas, transcripts and certificates of study at the gymnasium and general high school, whether compulsory or optional, constitutes a form of processing data of a personal nature which must meet the above requirements. However, since that inclusion infringes Article 13 (1) of the Constitution and Articles 9 and 14 of the ECHR, the contested decisions, which provide for the processing of sensitive personal data without any legitimate purpose, are in contradiction with the provisions of Articles 2 par. b, 4 par. 1 par. and b of Law 2472/1997 and 5 par. 1 par. a and b and 9 par. 1 of Regulation 2016/679."

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