The Czech Constitutional Court has overturned the country’s implementation of the EU Data Retention Directive (DRD), on the grounds that it violates fundamental privacy rights and is a disproportionate response to threats it seeks to mitigate.

Fifty-one members of the Czech parliament appealed to the Court to have the law overturned.

The ruling comes just weeks after Sweden delayed implementing the DRD for at least another year. Four other countries – Germany, Romania, Cyprus and Hungary – have overturned their implementations, while Sweden, Greece, Ireland and Austria have so far refused to implement the Directive at all.

With a third of EU Member States now refusing to implement the Directive, it looks unlikely to achieve universal acceptance in its current form.