Supreme Court to hear appeal on preliminary issues arising in LinkedIn challenge to €310m DPC fine
The Irish Supreme Court will hear an appeal from the Data Protection Commission regarding preliminary issues in a legal challenge against a €310 million fine imposed on LinkedIn. LinkedIn argues the fine is penal in nature and requires higher legal protections than standard administrative sanctions.
Why it matters
This case sets a significant legal precedent for how European regulators apply GDPR fines and whether such penalties are classified as administrative or criminal.
The Supreme Court will hear an appeal by the Data Protection Commission (DPC) relating to certain preliminary matters arising in LinkedIn’s challenge to the imposition of a €310 million fine by the commission.
In October 2024, the DPC fined LinkedIn €310 million for breaches of European data protection legislation.
Microsoft-owned LinkedIn claims that the fine was a sanction that is “criminal or penal in nature” due to its magnitude. The company subsequently initiated High Court proceedings challenging this decision.
LinkedIn asked the High Court to quash the DPC’s decision of October 2023, which came on foot of a 2018 complaint originally made to the French data watchdog by a French non-profit organisation called La Quadrature du Net.
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