Protection of the right to privacy of legal persons in the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights

Predmet magistrskega diplomskega dela je sodna praksa Sodišča Evropske unije in Evropskega sodišča za človekove pravice glede pravice do spoštovanja zasebnosti pravnih oseb. Evropska unija varstvo pravice do zasebnosti ureja v 7. in 8. členu Listine Evropske unije o temeljnih pravicah. Svet Evrope ureja varstvo pravice do zasebnosti v 8. členu Evropske konvencije o varstvu človekovih pravic in temeljnih svoboščin. Razvoj in trenutna ureditev varstva pravice do zasebnosti pravnih oseb je v tem delu predstavljena skozi izbrane najvplivnejše sodbe SEU in ESČP. Širina varstva pravice do spoštovanja zasebnosti pravnih oseb, kot ga nudita SEU in ESČP se je tekom let močno spreminjala. Začetno zavračanje takega varstva je z razvojem prakse prešlo v varstvo pravice tako v delu glede varstva zasebnosti doma, varstva komunikacije in v zadnjih letih tudi v varstvo zasebnosti njihovih podatkov. Zlasti slednja kategorija sproža v javnosti nemalo odpora, zato bo v prihodnjih letih deležna močnejšega razvoja ter intenzivnega spremljanja s strani javnosti. Vpliv razlogov za ustanovitev posamezne organizacije se odraža tudi pri varstvu pravice do zasebnosti. Varstvo pravice znotraj Evropske unije je usmerjeno v tisti del, ki v večji meri vpliva na gospodarsko delovanje pravnih oseb. Pri tem se velik del sodne prakse nanaša na preiskave družb, ki jih sproži Evropska komisija ob varovanju pravil o konkurenci. Varstvo pravice v okviru Sveta Evrope je bilo do sedaj usmerjeno zlasti v ustrezno razmejevanje med pravicami, ki pripadajo fizičnim in pravnim osebam. Praksa ESČP je v svojem bistvu mnogokrat bolj kreativna kot praksa SEU, zlasti pa je na razvoj prakse slednjega pomembno vplivala. Podoben vpliv pričakujem tudi v prihodnje, zlasti zaradi usmerjenosti, da Konvencijo obravnava kot živ instrument, ki potrebuje razlago primerno razvoju družbe.This Master’s thesis discusses the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights concerning the right to respect the privacy of legal persons. The European Union regulates the right to privacy in Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The Council of Europe regulates the right to privacy in Article 8 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The development and current provisions for the protection of the right to privacy of legal persons are presented through selected influential judgements of the CJEU and ECtHR. The extent of the protection of the right to privacy of legal persons, as is provided by the CJEU and ECtHR has greatly evolved over the years. Although initially such protection was rejected, it has developed through the case-law to now include protection of the privacy of home, privacy of correspondence and in the last years also includes protection of privacy of data. The latter category raised great public resistance, which will undoubtedly see some progress and rigorous monitoring by the public in the upcoming years. The influence of the grounds for establishing a particular organization are also reflected in the protection of the right to privacy. The protection of this right within the European Union context is aimed at the field that largely affects economic activities of entities. In doing so, the most significant part of the case-law is related to the investigations of legal entities initiated by the European Commission as part of competition law procedures. The protection of this right within the Council of Europe has so far been predominantly focused on the appropriate distinction between the rights belonging to natural and legal persons. The case-law of the ECtHR is in its essence often more creative as the case-law of the CJEU, and had a significant impact on the development of the latter\u27s case-law. I expect a similar development and interplay also in the future, especially due to the orientation of the ECtHR to treat the ECHR as a living instrument, which must be interpreted appropriately to the state of society