
Stockholm – A recent ruling from Sweden’s highest court may force popular legal databases to cease operations.
The Supreme Court has ruled that these databases can no longer distribute criminal court judgments to their subscribers.
The case centers on an appeal by the news agency Siren, which contested prior rulings that allowed the agency to access judgments but under new, restrictive conditions.
These new guidelines stipulate that documents could only be utilized for “journalistic activities” and could not be shared with paying clients in a searchable format—a practice that many legal databases have engaged in for a long time.
This ruling represents a significant shift in the balance between the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Swedish constitution, which historically granted media outlets with publishing certificates certain exemptions from EU regulations.
The court has determined that EU law takes precedence over Swedish laws concerning publishing certificates. Accordingly, the previously broad exemption for media is now deemed incompatible with EU law, according to the Supreme Court.
(February 25)













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