Irish Circuit Court Stays Compensation Claim For Non-Material Damages

• Jurisdiction: European Union,Ireland
• Author: Ms Davinia Brennan and Thomas Condon
• Law Firm: Matheson
• Published date: 13 March 2023

The Irish Circuit Court, in the case of Cunniam v Parcel Connect Limited & Ors [2023] IECC 1, recently granted a stay on proceedings brought by a data subject where non-material damages were alleged, pending six decisions awaited from the Court of Justice of the European Union ('CJEU') relating to non-material damage claims. The Court held that not granting the stay would substantially prejudice the defendants' case, and would lead to the risk of an irreconcilable judgment being produced by the Court.

Background

Article 82 GDPR, and section 117 of the Irish Data Protection Act 2018 (the 'DPA') allows data subjects or non-profit organisations mandated to act on their behalf, to seek compensation for material or non-material damage suffered as a result of a breach of the GDPR. However, uncertainty prevails over the scope of the right to compensation for non-material damage.

Whilst obiter comments by Whelan J., in Shawl Property Investments Ltd v A. & B [2021] IECA 53 state that nothing in the DPA 'suggests that a data protection action is a tort of strict liability' and regard should be had to 'the principle of proportionality in evaluating claims for breaches of [the GDPR]", there has been no consideration of Article 82 GDPR in any written decision of the Irish Superior Court...