merrion street

Dara Murphy TD, Minister for Data Protection at the Department of the Taoiseach [Prime Minister] and the Department of Justice and Equality has today confirmed that Ireland is to file an amicus curiae brief in the case of Microsoft v United States, which is currently before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York.

Speaking in advance of the submission of the brief to the Court later today, Minister Murphy said:
“The right of individuals to the protection of their personal data is an essential foundation for modern society and the growing digital economy. We must ensure that individuals and organisations can have confidence in the rules and processes that have been put in place to safeguard privacy.

“Ireland and the United States enjoy extraordinarily warm bilateral relations, resulting in excellent cooperation across a broad range of areas, including cooperation in criminal matters, which we value greatly and which are to the common benefit of citizens on both sides of the Atlantic. We have a mutual legal assistance framework in place for cooperation in criminal matters, which remains the preferred avenue for such cooperation, including for the transfer of data.

“As Minister for Data Protection I have given detailed consideration, from an Irish perspective, to the issues raised in this complex case. There are important principles of public policy at play. Having engaged in detailed consultation with my colleagues in Government, it was agreed that Ireland should submit an amicus curiae brief to the US court that focuses on the principles involved in this case and that points to the existing process for mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors
1. On 4th December 2013, Microsoft Inc. was served with a criminal search warrant, under the US Stored Communications Act, for all content data associated with a specific email account, which is held on servers in the company’s Dublin-based operations.
2. An amicus curiae, or friend of the court, is someone who is not a party to a case, but who offers information that bears on the case.
3. Ireland and the US have a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (2001) in place for the transfer of evidence from one jurisdiction to the other to assist law enforcement authorities in criminal investigations.