The Supreme Court has delivered a judgment delivered a concluding legal proceedings regarding the recovery of moral damages against several of Latvia’s leading media organisations. By refusing to initiate cassation proceedings on the part of the dismissal of the claim, the Senate has upheld the judgment of the Riga Regional Court in favour of the media defendants. This decision is final and not subject to appeal, establishing a significant precedent in the field of data protection and media law.
The case involved a claim brought by a private individual against LETA SIA, TVNET Grupa SIA, state SIA Latvijas Sabiedriskais medijs (LSM), and Izdevniecība Rīgas Viļņi SIA, among other media organisations. The claimant sought compensation for moral damage arising from what they alleged to be the unlawful processing of personal data.
“This judgement is a landmark for the entire media industry in Latvia. It confirms that even in situations where, in the court’s view, data processing could have been conducted with greater diligence, a claim for compensation cannot be justified without a proper and reasoned evidentiary basis demonstrating the actual occurrence of harm,” notes COBALT Senior Associate Gabriela Šantare.
Harm must be proven, not presumed
The decisive grounds for the dismissal of the claim were the lack of evidence regarding the existence of actual harm. In its decision, the Supreme Court reinforced several theses vital to the media environment:
- A mere breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) norms is insufficient to establish a right to compensation. The person must prove not only the infringement itself but also that the breach actually caused specific non-material harm.
- A right to remuneration arises only if there is a direct link between the data processing breach and the negative consequences caused to the person.
- The Supreme Court indicated that since the claim was dismissed due to a lack of evidence, the court’s critical considerations regarding the media’s work do not gain legal force. In practice, this means that these conclusions remain merely the court’s opinion without legally binding consequences in future disputes.
Legal representation and outcome
COBALT provided representation for the defendants (LETA, TVNET, LSM, and Rīgas Viļņi) throughout this complex civil process, achieving a favourable outcome for the media in the main claim. The defendants were represented in court by Senior Associate Gabriela Šantare. COBALT’s team also included Junior Associate Kārlis Ošs.
A brief background on the case
The claimant brought an action against several of Latvia’s leading media organisations regarding their publications informing the public about proceedings initiated in the Constitutional Court. Given the nature of the relevant Constitutional Court case and the claimant’s complaint, the claimant considered that these media organisations had no grounds to republish the claimant’s name and surname. The Supreme Court delivered its judgment on 12 February 2026, deciding to dismiss the claim for compensation for harm caused by the publications.
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