The Role of the Proportionality Test in the Workplace Surveillance Field

The essay analyses how the most recent decisions delivered by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), such as López Ribalda v. Spain and Libert v. France, have enriched the regulative framework outlined by the fundamental Grand Chamber judgment Barbulescu in the matter of workplace privacy protection. The paper highlights the increasing complexity that the Council of Europe’s member states must face to fulfil their obligation of implementing the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) principles as interpreted in ECtHR case law. The paper also focusses on the innovative key role played by the national judge as an authority called to strike a fair balance of the interests protected by the provisions of the ECHR. The paper deals with the role played by the proportionality test (as elaborated on by the ECtHR, and especially, in terms of the Köpke, Barbulescu and López cases) as a concrete instrument of European harmonisation via the intervention of the national judge.