The protection of the personal data processed by law enforcement and judicial authorities

Personal data is not limited to being processed only in sectors such as health, finance or insurance to provide services, but also for the prevention of crime and illumination of the crimes committed. For the individual living today on the street, being watched with camera systems, passing through the checkpoint, being subject to law enforcement database have become indispensable. Providing the protection of personal data with the protection granted to the right to privacy does not respond to today's needs. For this reason both the Council of Europe and the European Union and Turkish law tried to respond to the need to protect personal data by regulating lawfully processing of personal data, the rights of the data subject and the sanctions in case of data breach. The legislation on the protection of personal data in Europe and Turkey has been excluded when it comes to national security, prevention of crimes, execution of criminal proceedings and criminal penalties. However, the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Directive that came into force in 2018 regulated many issues in prevention, investigation, detection, prosecution of crimes and execution of penalties such as the situations in which law enforcement and other judicial authorities can process personal data, what these data might be and the rights of the data subject. In our thesis, the historical development of personal data protection in the Council of Europe and the European Union has been examined and we try to present general perspective of the Directive. The subjects of the Directive and their competence, rights and obligations are examined. Finally the methods of personal data processing through preventive and protection measures applied in the process of preventing crimes, criminal procedure and execution of sentences are discoursed.