Short decision in Bărbulescu v. romania
On 5 September 2017, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (the " ECHR ") examined for the first time the issue of the monitoring of electronic communications of a private employee, within the framework of an action brought by Mr Bărbulescu, an engineer employed by a private company in Romania. Mr Bărbulescu had been dismissed for the purposes of the company, a breach of the rules of the company, a professional Yahoo Messenger account of his request for the purpose of responding to customers' inquiries.
The decision handed down last month overturns a ruling made less than two years earlier in the same case. The ECHR had then held, by six votes to one, that the monitoring of the communications of Mr Bărbulescu had been reasonable in the context of disciplinary proceedings for his private life and correspondence and the employer's interests.
This decision in which the Grand Chamber has just held, by eleven votes to six, that there has been a violation of the application of the right to privacy and confidentiality. to the detriment of the employer's right to carry out monitoring. In reality, its impact on employers in Luxembourg will be limited (I). However, in the light of the facts of the decision (II), it is highly advisable that they should be aware of the fact that they should make sure that their work is done in a timely manner. The Court suggests that the Court (III).
