Chapter 8 · Remedies, Liability and Sanctions

Article 81Suspension of proceedings

All 99 Articles Chapter 8: Remedies, Liability and Sanctions

Where the same cross-border matter is before courts in more than one member state, later courts may suspend their proceedings to avoid conflicting judgments.

Official text & source

Article 81 of the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679). Read the full, authoritative text on EUR-Lex.

Official text on EUR-Lex

Official text

Verbatim text of Article 81 of the General Data Protection Regulation — Regulation (EU) 2016/679.

Where a competent court of a Member State has information on proceedings, concerning the same subject matter as regards processing by the same controller or processor, that are pending in a court in another Member State, it shall contact that court in the other Member State to confirm the existence of such proceedings.

Where proceedings concerning the same subject matter as regards processing of the same controller or processor are pending in a court in another Member State, any competent court other than the court first seized may suspend its proceedings.

Where those proceedings are pending at first instance, any court other than the court first seized may also, on the application of one of the parties, decline jurisdiction if the court first seized has jurisdiction over the actions in question and its law permits the consolidation thereof.

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.

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