‘The identity data of magistrates and members of the judiciary cannot be reused with the purpose or effect of evaluating, analysing, comparing or predicting their actual or alleged professional practices.’
As reported by the media, France has enforced Article 33 of the Justice Reform Act which states that No personally identifiable data concerning judges or court clerks may be subject to any reuse with the purpose or result of evaluating, analyzing or predicting their actual or supposed professional practices.
“The violation of this law shall be punished by the measures outlined in articles 226-18, 226-24, and 226-31 of the penal code, without prejudice of the measures and sanctions provided for under the law 78-17 of 6 January 1978 concerning data processing, files and freedom.
publication of statistical information about judges’ decisions – with a five-year prison sentence set as the maximum punishment for anyone who breaks the same.
Extracted from Article 33 of the Justice Reform Act:
[The second and third paragraphs of Article L. 10 are replaced by three paragraphs worded as follows:
“Subject to the special provisions governing access to decisions of justice and their publicity, judgments are made available to the public free of charge in electronic form.
“By way of derogation from the first paragraph, the names and surnames of the natural persons mentioned in the judgment, when they are parties or third parties, are obscured prior to the making available to the public. When its disclosure is likely to undermine the security or the respect of the privacy of these persons or their entourage, is also hidden any element allowing to identify the parties, the thirds, the magistrates and the members of the registry.
“The identity data of magistrates and members of the Registry cannot be reused with the purpose or effect of evaluating, analyzing, comparing or predicting their actual or alleged professional practices. Violation of this prohibition is punished by the penalties provided for in Articles 226-18,226-24 and 226-31 of the Penal Code, without prejudice to the measures and sanctions provided for by Law No. 78-17 of 6 January 1978 relating to data processing, files and freedoms.”]
