Company barred from giving evidence in court due to “substantial delay” in providing witness statements – OUT-LAW.com

‘Civil court litigants must comply with court orders or “face the consequences”, an expert has said, after the High Court barred a company from giving evidence about a particular issue at trial after it failed to exchange witness statements within a reasonable time.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 28th January 2014

Source: www.out-law.com

Force India and Damages for Misuse of Confidential information – Sports Law Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers

Posted January 21st, 2014 in confidentiality, contracts, damages, news, sport by sally

‘In the world of Formula 1 (“F1”), millions of pounds can be won or lost over the matter of a few seconds. Mega-rich companies compete to create faster cars, carefully guarding any information that might shave a few moments off a model’s time. The aerodynamism of a F1 model is crucial to this time performance, and it transpires, also useful for generating questions on the misuse of confidential information.’

Full story

Sports Law Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers, 21st January 2014

Source: www.sportslawbulletin.org

Personal data and fitness to practice investigations – Tribunal overturns ‘neither confirm nor deny’ position – Panopticon

‘When an identifiable individual has been the subject of a formal complaint about their competence or conduct, that fact constitutes their personal data. In terms of privacy/publicity decisions, such situations are often approached in this way: where the complaint is well founded or at least merits serious consideration, publication is warranted, but otherwise confidentiality is maintained, lest unjustified aspersions be cast against that person.’

Full story

Panopticon, 17th January 2014

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Trains, pains and allegations: fairness in medical misconduct cases – UK Human Rights Blog

‘This appeal by Dr Chhabra was concerned with the roles of the case investigator and the case manager when handling concerns about a doctor’s performance under the disciplinary procedures introduced over eight years ago for doctors and dentists in the National Health Service. The national policy framework is known as ‘Maintaining High Professional Standards in the Modern NHS’ (MHPS), which the Trust had implemented through its own policies.’

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 19th January 2014

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Council wins tribunal appeal over disclosure of legal advice and EIR – Local Government Lawyer

‘A local authority has won an appeal in the First-Tier Tribunal over an Information Commissioner decision that it should disclose legal advice related to the redevelopment of a town centre.’

Full story

Local Government Lawyer, 15th January 2014

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

West London Mental Health NHS Trust (Respondent) v Chhabra (Appellant) – Supreme Court

West London Mental Health NHS Trust (Respondent) v Chhabra (Appellant) [2013] UKSC 80 | UKSC 2013/0046 (YouTube)

Supreme Court, 18th December 2014

Source: www.youtube.com/user/UKSupremeCourt

Confidentiality of medical information after patient’s death: two new Upper Tribunal decisions – Panopticon

Posted November 15th, 2013 in appeals, confidentiality, freedom of information, medical records, news, tribunals by tracey

“The absolute exemption at section 41 extends to information obtained by the public authority the disclosure of which would give to an actionable breach of confidence. Does the obligation of confidence survive the death of the confider? If so, would a breach of that obligation be actionable, even if it is not clear exactly who could bring such an action? These issues arise most notably in the context of medical records. The Upper Tribunal has had something to say on this in two recent decisions.”

Full story

Panopticon, 14th November 2013

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Two new Upper Tribunal decisions: commercial confidentiality, ministerial communications – Panopticon

Posted October 28th, 2013 in confidentiality, disclosure, news, public interest, tribunals by sally

“The Upper Tribunal has issued two decisions on information rights matters this week. Both are by Upper Tribunal Judge David Williams, and both include substantive treatments of some of the issues that arise most commonly in information rights litigation.”

Full story

Panopticon, 25th October 2013

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Cats, bags, rings and rooms: the problem of confidentiality – Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers

Posted October 11th, 2013 in competition, confidentiality, news, tribunals by sally

“Dealing with confidential information in competition cases can be tricky. The CAT’s recent judgment in BMI Healthcare and others v Competition Commission [2013] CAT 241 provides some help.”

Full story

Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers, 11th October 2013

Source: www.competitionbulletin.com

Watchdog warning over ‘unnecessary’ gagging clauses – BBC News

“The use of ‘gagging clauses’ risks stopping employees from speaking out about failures in the public sector, the National Audit Office has warned.”

Full story

BBC News, 8th October 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

NSA and GCHQ unlock privacy and security on the internet – The Guardian

“US and British intelligence agencies have successfully cracked much of the online encryption relied upon by hundreds of millions of people to protect the privacy of their personal data, online transactions and emails, according to top-secret documents revealed by former contractor Edward Snowden.”

Full story

The Guardian, 6th September 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

David Miranda detention: Lawyers seek judicial review – BBC News

“Lawyers representing a Brazilian man detained at Heathrow airport have begun judicial review proceedings against the Home Office and the police.”

Full story

BBC News, 22nd August 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Construction industry disputes – Panopticon

“The balance of public interest was ‘very strongly’ in favour of maintaining the confidentiality of documents in order to “protect the course of justice” both in Jackson v Info Commissioner, EA 2012/0263, FTT Decision on 19 July 2013, and in ‘many other such disputes’ said Judge Hughes. The value of the disclosure of the material was limited. The adverse impact of disclosure on dispute resolution was substantial. Judge Hughes concluded: ‘If there were to be change in the arrangements underpinning construction dispute resolution then this should be explored through a careful process of public debate and consultation leading to an amendment of the statutory framework.'”

Full story

Panopticon, 26th July 2013

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

20 law firms implicated in ‘secret’ phone hacking scandal – Daily Telegraph

“Lawyers were the biggest users of the private investigators behind the ‘secret’ phone-hacking scandal, it has been revealed.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 26th July 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Prince Charles’s letters: judges allow appeal against block on publication – The Guardian

“High court judges give the Guardian right to challenge cabinet move to keep secret so-called ‘black spider memos.’ ”

Full story

The Guardian, 25th July 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Police hide names of companies suspected of phone hacking – Daily Telegraph

Posted July 24th, 2013 in confidentiality, interception, news, police, theft by tracey

” More than 100 companies and individuals are suspected of obtaining illicit information by hacking, blagging and theft and The Serious Organised Crime Agency has finally handed a list of names to MPs. However, the agency insisted that it remain secret to protect those involved.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 24th July 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Mike Gordon: Prince Charles’ Correspondence Back in Court – Reflections on R. (Evans) v. Attorney General – UK Constitutional Law Group

“The Administrative Court is the latest body to become involved in the on-going saga related to disclosure of the Prince of Wales’ correspondence with government departments. In the recent case of R. (Evans) v. Attorney General [2013] EWHC 1960 (Admin), the Guardian journalist Rob Evans challenged the legality of the government’s decision to veto disclosure of the relevant correspondence between Prince Charles and a range of government ministers. Disclosure of most of this material had been ordered under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) by the Upper Tribunal, allowing an appeal from Evans against the earlier decision of the Information Commissioner that the correspondence sought could be withheld.”

Full story

UK Constitutional Law Group, 22nd July 2013

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

Ruling highlights need for clear policy on social media account ownership, says expert – OUT-LAW.com

“A ruling by the High Court has highlighted the need for businesses to operate a ‘clear policy’ on ownership of social media accounts used by staff for business purposes, an expert has said.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 11th July 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

The Prince Charles veto: JR fails due to availability of JR – Panopticon

“As Chris Knight reported this morning, judgment has been handed down in R (Evans) v HM Attorney General [2013] EWHC 1960 (Admin). The Upper Tribunal had ordered disclosure of certain correspondence between Prince Charles and government ministers (termed ‘advocacy correspondence’). The government – the Attorney General specifically – exercised the power of veto under section 53 of FOIA. The requester, Guardian journalist Rob Evans, brought judicial review proceedings. The Administrative Court dismissed his claim.”

Full story

Panopticon, 10th July 2013

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

So we cannot see Prince Charles’ advocacy letters after all – UK Human Rights Blog

“As we all know, the Prince of Wales has his own opinions. And he has shared those opinions with various government departments. Our claimant, a Guardian journalist, thought it would be interesting and important for the rest of us to see those opinions. So he made a request under the Freedom of Information Act and the Environmental Information Regulations to see these documents.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 9th July 2013

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com