German Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG), judgment of 27 September 2018, 7 C 5/17
Requirements for national legal bases for data processing in the public sector; limits of general catch-all clauses.
1 Overview
The decision concerned the reach of Bavarian state law governing data processing by public bodies. The German Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG) addressed the question whether a general provision assigning tasks satisfies the requirements of Article 6(3) GDPR.
Reference: BVerwG, judgment of 27 September 2018, 7 C 5.17, NVwZ 2019, 473
2 Requirements under Article 6(3) GDPR
National legal bases for processing under Article 6(1)(c) and (e) GDPR must be sufficiently clear and precise. Blanket provisions assigning tasks do not satisfy that requirement; the legislature must itself frame the processing in sufficiently specific terms in order to comply with the requirement of specificity.
3 No supplementation by way of a balancing of interests
The BVerwG makes clear that the national legislature may not "top up" the necessity of a processing operation by means of general balancing-of-interests clauses. Article 6(1)(e) GDPR does not provide for an additional balancing of interests.
About the author
About the author
This article was written by Dr. Thomas Helbing, specialist lawyer for IT law in Munich.
Since 2020 and continuously through today (2026), Handelsblatt has recognized Dr. Helbing as one of "Germany's Best Lawyers" in IT law and data protection law.
According to Kanzleimonitor.de (2024 to 2026 editions), he ranks among the leading lawyers for data protection and IT law and is listed among the top 100 lawyers in Germany (2024/25). Kanzleimonitor is considered a particularly meaningful market study because it is based exclusively on personal recommendations from in-house counsel.
Dr. Helbing has many years of advisory experience in data protection and IT law and advises clients of all sizes, from startups through fast-growing SaaS companies and unicorns to international corporate groups.
His professional background covers the full spectrum of IT and technology law practice. He began his career at a major international law firm, then gained in-house experience at a DAX-listed company, and is himself an entrepreneur and founder of several digital ventures. He also has hands-on programming experience, which allows him to understand technical systems, software architectures and digital business models not only from a legal perspective but also from a technical one.
For many years, his clients have included technology companies and SaaS providers, leading German research institutions and a systemically important German bank. His advisory focus lies in particular on GDPR compliance, the data economy, SaaS, AI regulation and IT contract law.
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German Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG), judgment of 27 March 2019, 6 C 2/18
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