On October 3, 2017, the Irish High Court referred Data Protection Commissioner v. Facebook Ireland Limited & Maximilian Schrems to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), where the future of standard contractual clauses (SCCs) will be decided (here).

In December 2015—following the CJEU’s landmark decision in Maximillian Schrems v. Data Protection Commissioner invalidating the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor framework—Schrems amended his original complaint to the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC), challenging the validity of data transfers to the U.S. based on the European Commission approved SCCs (available here).  Based on the CJEU’s Schrems decision, the Irish DPC petitioned the Irish High Court asking to refer the matter to the CJEU for ruling on the question of whether the European Commission’s SCC decisions are valid under European law.  Specifically, the Data Protection Commissioner questioned whether there is an effective remedy under U.S. law compatible with the requirements of Article 47 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights for an EU citizen whose data is transferred to the U.S., where such data is subject to electronic surveillance by U.S. agencies for national security purposes. EU  citizens  have  a  right  guaranteed  by  Article  47  of  the  Charter  to  an  effective remedy before an independent tribunal if their rights or freedoms are violated. These include the rights under Articles 7 and 8 to respect for private and family life and protection of personal data.

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