The Constitutional Right to an Effective Remedy in the Digital Age: A Perspective from Europe

Abstract

The consolidation of the digital age has expanded the demand for justice. The challenges characterising digital relationships have led European policy makers to wonder about the opportunity to introduce new safeguards to ensure the right to effective remedies as enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. On the one hand, this approach has triggered the proliferation of new procedures, thus expanding potential remedies. On the other hand, the introduction of new remedies increases fragmentation and uncertainty about their access and functioning. This work examines the challenges for the right to an effective remedy raised by the proliferation of intertwined remedies in three key pieces of European digital regulation – the General Data Protection Regulation, the Digital Services Act, and the Artificial Intelligence Act. Particularly, we assess the three key avenues for remedies, namely internal complaints, independent supervision and judicial remedies. Based on this assessment, we underline the need for further clarity in the interplay between the remedial designs, central to which will be the focus on institutional collaboration across the emerging remedial frameworks.

Keywords: Effective Remedy, Fundamental Rights, European Union, Digital Regulation, Transparency Safeguards