The Spanish National High Court (Audiencia Nacional, Sala de lo Contencioso Administrativo Sección Primera) has issued the Right to be Forgotten ruling. Abanlex had represented Mario Costeja’s interests (the plaintiff) in the European Court of Justice (EUCJ), the highest court in the European Union in matters of European Union law, located in Luxembourg. This ruling had established the legal basis of responsibility of search engines concerning data and links appearing when searching a particular name. (See the General Council of the Judiciary [CGPJ]’s press note)
The Spanish National High Court (Audiencia Nacional) had previously referred nine questions to the ECJ regarding the interpretation and implementation of EU law in relation to appeals brought by Google Spain and Google Inc. This latter Spanish ruling brings to Spain the ECJ’s criteria. By dismissing the Google’s appeals, the Audiencia Nacional confirms the resolution of the Spanish Data Protection Agency (Agencia Española de Protección de Datos) urging Google to erase the contentious links and settles the grounds of the so-called Right to be Forgotten, mirroring the ECJ’s reasoning.