Patrick Breyer (born 29 April 1977) is a German
digital rights
Digital rights are those human rights and legal rights that allow individuals to access, use, create, and publish digital media or to access and use computers, other electronic devices, and telecommunications networks. The concept is particular ...
activist,
jurist
A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...
,
Pirate Party Germany
The Pirate Party Germany (german: Piratenpartei Deutschland), commonly known as Pirates (), is a political party in Germany founded in September 2006 at c-base. It states general agreement with the Swedish Piratpartiet as a party of the informat ...
politician, and – since
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
–
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...
(MEP). From 2012 to 2017 he was a member of the state parliament of
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...
and from April 2016 until the end of the legislative period he was also the leader of the Pirate group in that assembly. Breyer is one of four
European Pirate Party
The European Pirates (PIRATES) or European Pirate Party (PPEU) is an association of parties aspiring to be recognised as a European political party by the European Union. It was founded on 21 March 2014 at the European Parliament in Brussels ...
MEPs in the 2019–2024 term along with three
Czech Pirate Party
The Czech Pirate Party or Pirates ( cs, Česká pirátská strana , abbreviated ''Piráti'' ) is a Liberalism, liberal Progressivism, progressive List of political parties in the Czech Republic, political party in the Czech Republic, founded in 20 ...
members, all of whom are members of the
Greens / EFA parliamentary group
A parliamentary group, parliamentary party, or parliamentary caucus is a group consisting of some members of the same political party or electoral fusion of parties in a legislative assembly such as a parliament or a city council.
Parliamentar ...
.
Life
Patrick Breyer lives in
Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...
. He studied law and was awarded a
Doctorate of Law
A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL. ...
in 2004 at the
Goethe University Frankfurt
Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...
with his
thesis
A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...
on ''The systematic recording and retention of telecommunications traffic data for government purposes in Germany (
Data retention Data retention defines the policies of persistent data and records management for meeting legal and business data archival requirements. Although sometimes interchangeable, it is not to be confused with the Data Protection Act 1998.
The differen ...
)''. In 2004 he was appointed a judge in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. In 2006 he became a founding member of the
Pirate Party Germany
The Pirate Party Germany (german: Piratenpartei Deutschland), commonly known as Pirates (), is a political party in Germany founded in September 2006 at c-base. It states general agreement with the Swedish Piratpartiet as a party of the informat ...
.
Political activity
Legal proceedings concerning digital civil rights
Breyer is involved in the Working Group on Data Retention for
Information privacy
Information privacy is the relationship between the collection and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy, contextual information norms, and the legal and political issues surrounding them. It is also known as data pr ...
and
Civil and political rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...
and was involved in the organization of the successful class action lawsuit against data retention together with the lawyer and later judge at the Constitutional Court of the State of Berlin Meinhard Starostik. In 2016 he again filed a constitutional complaint against the new law on data retention.
In 2012, the Federal Constitutional Court declared legislation on government access to telecommunications subscriber data to be partially unconstitutional in response to an appeal filed by Breyer. Breyer and
Katharina Nocun
Katharina Nocun (born 1986 as ''Katarzyna Nocuń'') is a Polish-German politician and author who, from May 2013 to October 2016, has been the policy coordinator of the Pirate Party of Germany.
Life
Nocun was born in Poland in 1986, but grew ...
again challenged the revised regulation before the Federal Constitutional Court. The complaint was successful on 27 May 2020. Breyer also filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights against the compulsory identification of prepaid SIM cards. which was dismissed in 2020.
In 2012 Breyer filed a lawsuit against the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
for the release of documents on data retention and won in two instances.
Breyer filed an action for injunction against the Federal Republic of
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
at the Berlin-Tiergarten District Court in 2008. The action was directed against the general and indiscriminate retention of the user
IP address
An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.. Updated by . An IP address serves two main functions: network interface ident ...
in logfiles when browsing government websites (so-called "surf logging"). After the Local Court had dismissed the complaint in its judgment of 13 August 2008, the
Landgericht Berlin
The Landgericht Berlin is a regional court in Berlin, divided into two divisions for civil and criminal cases. In the German court hierarchy, it is above the eleven local courts (Amtsgerichte) of the city and below the Kammergericht, which is the ...
granted the request in part in its judgment of 31 January 2013. Breyer and the Federal Republic of Germany filed an appeal against the decision. On 19 October 2016, the European Court of Justice ruled on the basis of a submission by the
Federal Court of Justice
The Federal Court of Justice (german: Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) is the highest court in the system of ordinary jurisdiction (''ordentliche Gerichtsbarkeit'') in Germany, founded in 1950. It has its seat in Karlsruhe with two panels being situat ...
that dynamically assigned IP addresses represent personal data for the operator of a website if they can be traced to the subscriber in the course of criminal proceedings. On 16 May 2017 the Federal Court of Justice ruled that dynamically assigned IP addresses are personal data. Web site operators may only store them if this is necessary to ensure the general functioning of the services and if the interest and the fundamental rights and freedoms of the users do not take precedence. The Federal Court of Justice referred the case back to the Berlin Regional Court where it is pending.
In May 2018, Breyer filed a constitutional complaint against the new authority of the Federal Police to carry out automatic number plate readings at border crossings. At the end of 2018 he announced that he would file a complaint against the automatic reading of vehicle registration plates within the framework of "Section Control" in
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...
, and in March 2019 he filed the complaint with the organization "freiheitsfoo".
Member of the Schleswig-Holstein Landtag
In the
2012 Schleswig-Holstein state election, Breyer was elected to the
Landtag
A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non- ...
from the list presented by the Pirate Party of Schleswig-Holstein and on 21 May 2012 was chosen by that party's parliamentary group to be its leader in the chamber. He held the chair until the regular election of the parliamentary party executive committee on 21 May 2013. Between November 2012 and April 2017, Breyer transferred dietary allowances in the total amount of 75,159.18 euros to a donation account of the State of Schleswig-Holstein under the purpose "Reduction of new debt". He justified this, among other things, by the fact that only 1% of all taxpayers nationwide would have an income comparable to that of parliamentary group chairmen and that there should be no first and second class members of parliament because of the parliamentary group chairmanship.
In January 2013 Breyer criticized the vending machine industry, claiming that the sector "especially
hat part of itaround Mr
Paul Gauselmann
Paul Gauselmann (born 26 August 1934) is a German businessman, the founder and CEO of Gauselmann, a German company that produces slot machines, and runs gambling arcades.
Early life
Paul Gauselmann was born on 26 August 1934 in Borghorst, North ...
,
adbeen lubricating politicians of all established parties with large donations for years". Gauselmann had him warned against this, but Breyer did not issue a cease-and-desist declaration.
In the summer of 2014, Breyer published on his website police and judicial orders of danger zones in Schleswig-Holstein, previously sent by email from the Ministry of the Interior, within which police checks were permitted without justification. In the more than 100-page documents, the Ministry of the Interior had only partially redacted (blacked out) the names, official telephone numbers, and email addresses of the police officers in charge of the case, some of whom are also investigating the criminal
Outlaw motorcycle club
An outlaw motorcycle club is a motorcycle subculture generally centered on the use of Cruiser (motorcycle), cruiser motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons and chopper (motorcycle), choppers, and a set of ideals that purport to celebrate fre ...
. After the problem became known, Breyer publicly apologized for not having checked the documents sufficiently before publication and deleted the police officer data. He was criticized across party lines. The
Gewerkschaft der Polizei
The Gewerkschaft der Polizei (GdP; en, Trade Union of the Police) is a trade union in Germany. It represents 181,000 police employees, and is one of eight industrial affiliations of the German Confederation of Trade Unions (DGB). The GdP is one ...
filed criminal charges against Breyer. The public prosecutor's office did not initiate an investigation, as there were no sufficient actual indications of criminal offences. In an expert opinion, Thilo Weichert, the data protection commissioner, objected in several points to the actions of the Ministry of the Interior in sending the requested danger area orders. The Ministry had not carried out its redaction effectively or completely. Whether the documents classified as "for official use only" (VS-NfD) had in fact had to be classified in this way was at best questionable. An explicit reference should have been made to the intentional confidential treatment. However, the Member of Parliament would also have had to take confidentiality and protection of secrecy into account when exercising his rights.
Breyer was "by far the most hard-working parliamentarian with a total of 356 initiatives" in the legislative period of the Schleswig-Holstein state parliament running since 2012, reported ''
Die Welt
''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE.
''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter Allg ...
'' at the end of 2015 with reference to the information system of the state parliament.
On 17 February 2016 Breyer awarded the Green-Red-Blue coalition an "ostrich prize for extraordinary achievements in delaying important reforms in our country". During the plenary debate, SPD chairman
Ralf Stegner
Ralf Stegner (born 2 October 1959) is a political scientist and a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as a member of the German Bundestag for the constituency of Pinneberg since the 2021 elections.
Stegn ...
was presented with a bird ostrich mannequin. Breyer accused the coalition of using postponement and procrastination to prevent "repeated decisions by the state parliament on uncomfortable reform initiatives" by the Pirate faction, including the introduction of a waiting period for changing ministers to work in industry. State parliament president Klaus Schlie (CDU) issued Breyer with a formal reprimand.
On 12 April 2016 Breyer was re-elected chairman of the Pirate parliamentary group.
In May 2016 Breyer revealed accusations that male cadets at the Eutin Police Academy had displayed openly misogynistic, sexist, and racist behaviour towards their female fellow students and that the Ministry of the Interior had remained inactive despite knowledge of the matter (the so-called "Whatsapp affair"). As a result of the revelations, one police student was refused entry into the service. In addition, the head of the academy had been replaced in what was claimed to be no more than a routine rotation of posts. A committee of inquiry is currently investigating the case.
In autumn 2016 Breyer became the Pirate Party of Schleswig-Holstein's leading candidate in the state elections.
In December 2016 and February 2017, in the state parliament, Breyer criticized the fact that the heads of the state audit office and the state constitutional court had been appointed by the other parties without a public invitation to tender according to party proportional representation. The president of the state parliament called him to order and instructed him to withdraw his speech. In order to defend his right to criticize what he called "job pushing", Breyer called in the State Constitutional Court. The court declared the call to order unconstitutional on 17 May 2017. On 27 March 2017 Breyer was awarded the Horst Lütje Foundation's "Backbone Prize", endowed with 1,000 Euros, for his efforts.
In May 2017, Breyer uncovered accusations by criminal investigators that exculpatory statements in criminal proceedings against "
rockers" had been suppressed and bullying had been used in response to criticism (the so-called "Rocker Affair"). As a result of the revelations, the head of the police department in the Ministry of the Interior as well as the heads of the state criminal investigation department and the state police office were obliged to resign. A parliamentary committee of inquiry is currently investigating the case.
In the 2017 state elections the Pirate Party failed to win any seats in the state parliament. With 1.2% of the vote it scored seven percentage points less than five years earlier. This ended Breyer's mandate.
As a representative of the "People's Initiative for Co-Determination", Breyer handed more than 20,000 citizens' signatures to the state parliament in December 2017. In May 2018 Breyer, as a representative of the "People's Initiative for the Protection of Water", which demands a legal ban on
fracking
Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "frack ...
, delivered more than 42,000 citizens' signatures to the President of the State Parliament.
European elections 2019
![Patrick-Breyer-Goettingen-2019-03](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Patrick-Breyer-Goettingen-2019-03.jpg)
In the
2019 European Parliament election in Germany
The 2019 European Parliament election in Germany was held on 26 May 2019, electing the 96 members of the national Germany constituency to the European Parliament. Both the CDU/CSU and SPD suffered major losses, while the Greens became the seco ...
Breyer was the
Pirate Party Germany
The Pirate Party Germany (german: Piratenpartei Deutschland), commonly known as Pirates (), is a political party in Germany founded in September 2006 at c-base. It states general agreement with the Swedish Piratpartiet as a party of the informat ...
's leading candidate. For the election campaign, he recorded a
rap
Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
music video, which featured such other well-known pirates as
Anja Hirschel Anja Hirschel is a Pirate Party politician and city councillor in Ulm, Germany, and has been since 2019. She is the Germany Pirate Party's lead candidate for the 2024 European elections. She is the successor of Peter Breyer in this position.
She ...
.
In March 2019 Breyer filed a lawsuit against the EU Commission on the grounds that it was in possession of secret project documents relating to new kinds of video lie detectors intended for entry control, including an ethical and legal evaluation of the technology, on the grounds of protecting the commercial interests of the companies involved.
Breyer was the only member of the German Pirate Party to be elected to the European Parliament, where he now sits, together with three members of the
Czech Pirate Party
The Czech Pirate Party or Pirates ( cs, Česká pirátská strana , abbreviated ''Piráti'' ) is a Liberalism, liberal Progressivism, progressive List of political parties in the Czech Republic, political party in the Czech Republic, founded in 20 ...
who were elected at the same time, as one of a total of four members composing the Pirate Party in the parliament. He joined the
Greens–European Free Alliance
The Greens/European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) is a political group of the European Parliament composed primarily of green and regionalist political parties.
Formed following the 1999 European elections for the 5th European Parliament, th ...
group, as
Felix Reda
Felix Reda (formerly Julia Reda; born 30 November 1986) is a German researcher and politician who was Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Germany. He was a member of the Pirate Party Germany until 27 March 2019, part of The Greens–E ...
had done in the previous legislature, and so too did the three Czech pirates. For his group, Breyer is a member of the
and an alternate member of the
European Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs
The Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) is a committee of the European Parliament.
Responsibilities
The main responsibilities of the committee are the interpretation and application of international and European law and the compliance of European U ...
.
Works
* The systematic recording and retention of telecommunications traffic data for government purposes in Germany (traffic data retention). Edited: November 2004; Rhombos, Berlin 2005,
Volltext.
References
External links
Breyer's blog*
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Breyer, Patrick
1977 births
21st-century German politicians
Articles containing video clips
Living people
Members of the European Parliament for Germany
Members of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein
MEPs for Germany 2019–2024
Pirate Party (Germany) MEPs
Pirate Party Germany politicians