Google Spain Revisited: The Misunderstood Implementation of a Landmark Decision and How Public International Law Could Offer Guidance

In light of confusion around how the Google Spain judgment, which affirmed a ‘right to be forgotten’, has been implemented, the present contribution uses a public international law approach in an attempt to clarify some implementation issues. It considers aspects of the judgment and its implementation as having extraterritorial effect. As such, principles of jurisdiction under public international law could provide guidance on how best to exercise the right to be forgotten. The EU should exercise jurisdiction in a way that protects its citizens’ fundamental rights, preserves State sovereignty and is reasonable.