Follow the Rule of Law, Episode 161
First, from 1:41 onwards, Dr Stefan Brink and Carl Nowak discuss a journalist’s unsuccessful attempts to gain access to the Kohl files, which are in the possession of his widow, Maike Kohl-Richter. Regrettably, it has almost become the norm in Germany for outgoing government officials to take files home with them rather than handing them over to the Federal Archives. Can an obligation on the part of public authorities to recover “lost” files be inferred from the Freedom of Information Act? Subsequently (14:14), Stefan and Carl discuss an increase in data protection complaints between 2024 and 2025 received by the Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection and the Lower Saxony State Data Protection Commissioner. What could be the causes? Finally, from minute 30:00, the topic is an ECJ ruling of 29 January (Case C-291/24) concerning the EU Money Laundering Directive. This concerned the legal requirements under Austrian law regarding the liability of a legal person for compliance breaches. What does this ruling have to do with data protection?