Table Of ContentJUDICIAL PROTECTION OF FUNDAMENTAL
RIGHTS ON THE INTERNET
This book explores how the Internet impacts on the protection of fundamental
rights, particularly with regard to freedom of speech and privacy. In doing so, it
seeks to bridge the gap between Internet Law and European and Constitutional
Law.
The book aims to emancipate the debate on Internet Law and Jurisprudence
from the dominant position, with specific reference to European legal regimes.
This approach aims to inject a European and constitutional ‘soul’ into the topic.
Moreover, the book addresses the relationship between new technologies and the
protection of fundamental rights within the theoretical debate surrounding the
process of European integration, with particular emphasis on judicial dialogue.
This innovative book provides a thorough analysis of the forms, models and
styles of judicial protection of fundamental rights in the digital era and compares
the European vision to that of the United States. The book offers the first compara-
tive analysis in which the notion of (judicial) frame, borrowed from linguistic and
cognitive studies, is systematically applied to the theories of interpretation and
argumentation.
Judicial Protection of
Fundamental Rights
on the Internet
A Road Towards Digital Constitutionalism?
Oreste Pollicino
HART PUBLISHING
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data
Names: Pollicino, Oreste, author.
Title: Judicial protection of fundamental rights on the internet : a road towards
digital constitutionalism? / Oreste Pollicino.
Description: Oxford, UK ; New York, NY : Hart Publishing, an imprint of Bloomsbury
Publishing, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021000182 (print) | LCCN 2021000183 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781849468053 (hardback) | ISBN 9781509947225 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781509912711 (pdf) | ISBN 9781509912704 (Epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Internet governance—Law and legislation. | Freedom of expression. |
Data protection—Law and legislation. | Political questions and judicial power.
Classification: LCC K4345 .P65 2021 (print) | LCC K4345 (ebook) | DDC 342.08/53—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021000182
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021000183
ISBN: HB: 978-1-84946-805-3
ePDF: 978-1-50991-271-1
ePub: 978-1-50991-270-4
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FOREWORD
It is my pleasure to be able to introduce this publication, which provides an ambi-
tious analysis across the two sides of the Atlantic of judicial responses to the
challenges posed by the digital world. The author takes an in-depth look at the
emergence of new technologies and their impact on judicial protection for human
rights. More broadly, he also questions the relationship between judicial and polit-
ical power in this new age.
The book begins with the premise that the information society has amplified
the role of judges in the face of what the author calls a certain and inevitable legis-
lative inertia. It then moves on to a comparative analysis of the US and European
judicial landscapes, focusing on the topics of freedom of expression, privacy and
data protection with a detailed look at the latest case-law of the European Court of
Human Rights, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the US Supreme
Court. These comparisons provide a unique perspective on intersections and
divergences of the three courts.
The work also touches upon the increased power acquired by some business
actors in the digital environment and pauses to consider the effect of the COVID-19
pandemic, not just on the impact of the working practices of the courts, but more
generally on how the implementation of new technology may interfere or limit
fundamental rights.
The reader will particularly appreciate Professor Pollicino’s analysis of the
conceptual pillars of the judicial frame in adjudicating internet-related cases and
jurisdictional issues. I was particularly struck by the author’s desire to search for
the constitutional ‘soul’ of digital technology. Ultimately, the digital environment
has introduced a multitude of new challenges for lawyers and judges alike and for
this reason the book deserves to be widely read.
Robert Spano
President of the European Court of Human Rights
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book represents the fruits of 10 years of research (2011–2021) exploring a
dangerous triangle: the interaction between technology, judicial protection for
fundamental rights and the new challenges for constitutional law in the digital era.
I would like first of all to express my gratitude to Róbert Spanó for his very
kind words in the Foreword; it is a great privilege to have an introduction from the
President of the European Court of Human Rights. I would like to thank as well
three great scholars: Luciano Floridi, Woodrwow Hartzog and Frank Pasquale. All
of them have been so kind and patient in reading the book and expressing their
endorsement so generously.
Since the book has been built, at least methodologically, on work carried out
over the previous ten years (2000–10) on the interaction between legal orders and
judicial dialogue from a multilevel perspective, I must acknowledge the important
intellectual contribution of my friend and colleague Giuseppe Martinico. Without
our joint research, as well as the book authored by the two of us on this topic, I am
not sure whether this new book would ever have seen the light of day.
I started to engage with the issues addressed in this book in 2011 at the Institute
of European and Comparative Law in Oxford, a place which still remains dear to
my heart. I have fond memories of my time there and at all of the other institu-
tions I have visited over these past 10 years, as well as the colleagues I have had the
pleasure of working with. I am particularly grateful for the time spent at Haifa Law
School and for its vibrant and stimulating atmosphere.
Among the many friends and colleagues who have offered generous support
and discussed the ideas developed in this book, I would like to thank especially
Marco Bassini, Angelo Marcello Cardani, Marta Cartabia, Giovanni De Gregorio,
Filippo Donati, Michele Graziadei, Roberto Mastroianni, Laura Montanari,
Matteo Monti, Fernanda Nicola, Andras Koltay, Andrea Pin, Giovanni Pitruzzella,
Franco Pizzetti, Stefano Rodotà, Antonio Ruggeri, Andras Sajo, Roberto Scarciglia,
Andrea Simoncini, Antonio Tizzano, Luciano Violante, Stephen Weatherill and
Franz Werro.
I am also indebted to Giovanni De Gregorio and Matteo Monti for their invalu-
able support in the editing process, to Thomas Roberts for the careful language
proofreading and to Roberta Bassi and all of the wonderful team at Hart Publishing
for their great professionalism, patience and support.
The book is dedicated to my daughter Teresa.
CONTENTS
Foreword ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������v
Acknowledgements �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������vii
List of Abbreviations ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������xi
Table of Cases ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������xv
Introduction ....................................................................................................................1
1. Technology and Judges Across the Atlantic ....................................................12
I. The Amplification of Judicial Momentum ................................................12
II. Metaphors, Judicial Frames and Cyberspace ............................................14
III. Jurisdictions, Territory and Cyberspace ....................................................21
IV. Freedom of Expression, Privacy and Data Protection Across
the Atlantic ....................................................................................................39
V. Conclusions ...................................................................................................46
2. Judges and Freedom of Expression: From Atoms to Bits Across
the Atlantic.............................................................................................................51
I. Freedom of Expression in Action ...............................................................51
II. The US Judicial Landscape of Freedom of Expression ............................52
III. The European Judicial Landscape of Freedom of Expression ................67
A. The Jurisprudence of the Strasbourg Court .....................................68
B. The Jurisprudence of the CJEU .........................................................87
IV. Concluding Remarks: Transatlantic Frames Compared
and the Need for Care when Handling Metaphors ..................................94
3. Judges, Privacy and Data Protection: From Atoms
to Bits Across the Atlantic ...................................................................................99
I. Privacy and Data Protection in Action .....................................................99
II. Stagnation in the US and the European Metamorphosis ......................101
III. The EU Judicial Enforcement of Digital Privacy: A New Frame? ........110
A. Digital Rights Ireland .........................................................................115
B. Google Spain .......................................................................................119
C. Schrems ................................................................................................128
IV. The European Personal Data Fortress .....................................................137
V. Conclusions .................................................................................................144
