A foreign court or authority order to hand over data is not, by itself, a lawful basis to transfer — it must go through an international agreement such as mutual legal assistance.
Official text & source
Article 48 of the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679). Read the full, authoritative text on EUR-Lex.
Official text
Verbatim text of Article 48 of the General Data Protection Regulation — Regulation (EU) 2016/679.
Any judgment of a court or tribunal and any decision of an administrative authority of a third country requiring a controller or processor to transfer or disclose personal data may only be recognised or enforceable in any manner if based on an international agreement, such as a mutual legal assistance treaty, in force between the requesting third country and the Union or a Member State, without prejudice to other grounds for transfer pursuant to this Chapter.
Source: Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, p. 1). Official text reproduced from EUR-Lex — © European Union. Only European Union legislation published in the Official Journal is deemed authentic.
Related articles
These summaries are a plain-English orientation only and are not a substitute for the official text of the Regulation or for legal advice.
Need to apply Article 48?
The FAQs and insights show how the text works in practice.