Studio Legale Pavan Website

Art. 14 of Directive no. 46 of 1995, on processing of personal data, grants a data subject the right to object and recognizes the so-called “right to be forgotten”. Indeed, such article provides that a data subject may at any time object, on compelling legitimate grounds, to the processing of ones’ data.

With regard to this, the Supreme Court of Cassation asked the European Court of Justice to state whether the “right to be forgotten” may be invoked also for personal data appearing in the companies register.

The question arose in the course of an action brought by the director of a building company. He complained that the properties built by his enterprise were partly unsold, due to the damaging mention in the companies register of his past role as sole director of another company, declared bankrupt in 1992 and struck off the companies register in 2005.

With Judgment of last 9th March in the case C-398/15, the Court of Justice has first explained that the disclosure of data appearing in the companies register aims at guaranteeing certainty in relation to dealings between companies and third parties. Secondly, the Court has not recognized a “right to be forgotten” as regards personal data contained in the companies register. According to the Court, disclosure is required only for a limited number of personal data, so that there is no violation of fundamental rights of the persons concerned.