Attorney General Merrick B. Garland today held a formal investiture ceremony for the Data Protection Review Court (DPRC) at the Justice Department, formally swearing in six judges of the eight-member, fully independent court, following the Constitutional oath they have already taken, and marking another milestone in the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (DPF).
ALI President David F. Levi, ALI Council member Virginia A. Seitz of Sidley Austin, and ALI member Thomas B. Griffith of Hunton Andrews Kurth are among the judges.
“In October 2022, I issued new regulations establishing the Data Protection Review Court to serve as the second level of a new redress process established by the President’s Executive Order on Enhancing Safeguards for United States Signals Intelligence Activities,” said Attorney General Garland. “Although this court has been established at the Department of Justice, its judges will independently decide what remedies, if any, are appropriate for the cases in front of them, and the intelligence agencies will be expected to abide by their decisions.”
Last October, the Attorney General issued regulations creating the DPRC within the Office of Privacy and Civil Liberties at the Department of Justice. The DPRC serves as the second level of the new redress process established by the President through Executive Order 14086, which also strengthened other safeguards for U.S. signals intelligence activities. The DPRC will independently review determinations made by the Civil Liberties Protection Officer of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) in response to qualifying complaints sent by individuals through appropriate public authorities that allege certain violations of U.S. law in the conduct of U.S. signals intelligence activities.
The Executive Order and the new Justice Department regulations are a critical part of the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and the UK-U.S. Data Bridge Extension. These arrangements reflect the strength of U.S. partnerships with the European Union and the United Kingdom and the shared commitment to the rule of law and respect for the value of individual privacy.
Two additional judges were unable to attend today’s ceremony in person.
“The Data Protection Review Court was established by the Attorney General under authority of an Executive Order issued by President Biden for the purpose of safeguarding the legitimate privacy interests that individuals have in their personal information,” said David F. Levi, newly announced Judge to the DPRC and President of The American Law Institute. “I am honored to work with this group of distinguished judges and thank the Attorney General for this opportunity for public service.”
The judges on the court include:
- James E. Baker
- Rajesh De
- James X. Dempsey
- Mary B. DeRosa
- Thomas B. Griffith
- Eric H. Holder Jr.
- David F. Levi
- Virginia A. Seitz
For full bios and more information on the Data protection Review Court, visit https://www.justice.gov/opcl/redress-data-protection-review-court.
Also in attendance at the investiture ceremony was Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division (NSD), European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders and members of NSD, the U.S. Departments of Commerce and State, ODNI, and the National Security Council.