Are Digital Searches in Punitive Administrative Proceedings Subject to the Requirement of Prior Judicial Authorisation?

In CG v Bezirkshauptmannschaft Landeck (C-548/21), the Court of Justice of the European Union held that searches of mobile phones by criminal investigation authorities must be subject to prior review by a court or an independent administrative body. In this paper, I examine whether the same procedural requirement applies under EU law to searches of mobile phones and other digital searches carried out by administrative authorities in the course of administrative investigations. While the CJEU has already been asked a similar question in relation to business e-mails seized in competition investigation ‘dawn raids’ in Imagens Médicas (Joined Cases C-258/23 to C-260/23), the objective of this paper is to examine the issue in broader terms and to consider also other sectors of enforcement where administrative authorities have similar investigatory powers at their disposal. I conclude that although unlimited access to data can constitute a serious, or even particularly serious, interference with the fundamental rights of the targeted individual regardless of the authority or proceedings, the data that is accessed in administrative investigations is often of a less personal, private, and sensitive nature than that stored on personal mobile devices. Thus, a categorical requirement of prior judicial review for digital searches in punitive administrative investigations should be rejected, although there may be situations where the measure should be authorised by a court.