Disclosure of census data – high court judgment – Panopticon

Posted July 17th, 2012 in census, disclosure, news, privacy by sally

“The High Court has recently handed down a judgment in a really interesting case concerning the legality of disclosures of census data by the UK Statistics Board. Every decade since 1801, householders in England and Wales have been required to complete a national census form. Failure to complete the form amounts to a criminal offence. The most recent census was conducted by the newly established UK Statistics Board (‘the Board’) in 2011. The Board was established by the Statistics and Registration Act 2007 (‘SRA’). Under s. 39(1) SRA, the Board’s employees are subject to a general duty not to disclose personal data acquired pursuant to the census. However, s. 39(4) creates a number of specific exemptions in respect of that general duty. Not least, under s. 39(4)(f), the Board has a specific power to disclose census data amounting to personal data (including sensitive personal data) where the disclosure is made ‘for the purposes of a criminal investigation or criminal proceedings (whether or not in the United Kingdom)’.”

Full story

Panopticon, 17th July 2012

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Chilcot report into Iraq delayed by Whitehall refusal to release evidence – The Guardian

Posted July 16th, 2012 in disclosure, evidence, inquiries, Iraq, news, war by sally

“Fierce opposition in Whitehall to the disclosure of key documents relating to the invasion of Iraq, notably records of discussions between Tony Blair and George Bush, has meant the Chilcot inquiry will not now be able to publish its report for well over a year.”

Full story

The Guardian, 16th July 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Snooping errors twice led to wrongful detention, watchdog reveals – The Guardian

“The police have wrongly accused and detained two people in separate cases as a result of mistakes made in the disclosure of their personal communications data, a watchdog has revealed.”

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The Guardian, 13th July 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Move to ’20-year-rule’ for secret papers will cost £52m – BBC News

“The Ministry of Justice says reducing the ’30-year rule’ for publishing secret government papers to 20 years will cost up to £52m.”

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BBC News, 13th July 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Phone hacking: Glenn Mulcaire loses disclosure battle – BBC News

Posted July 4th, 2012 in disclosure, interception, news, Supreme Court, telecommunications by sally

“Glenn Mulcaire has lost his Supreme Court battle to keep secret the identity of the person who instructed him to hack into mobile phone messages.”

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BBC News, 4th July 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

DPP invites defence to appeal convictions of Drax Power Station protestors – Crown Prosecution Service

Posted July 3rd, 2012 in appeals, demonstrations, disclosure, news, police by sally

“The Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, has invited 29 individuals convicted following the Drax Power Station protest in 2008 to appeal against their convictions. This protest involved the former undercover officer Mark Kennedy.”

Full story

Crown Prosecution Service, 3rd July 2012

Source: http://blog.cps.gov.uk

More data should be released, but only with extra anonymity checks, says Government – OUT-LAW.com

Posted July 2nd, 2012 in anonymity, data protection, disclosure, news, privacy by sally

“Government departments must conduct tests to make sure that blocks of data they release do not result in the identification of individuals when combined with blocks of other released data.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 2nd July 2012

Source: www.out-law.com

Regina (Omar and others) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs – WLR Daily

Posted June 29th, 2012 in disclosure, evidence, foreign jurisdictions, law reports by tracey

Regina (Omar and others) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs: [2012] EWHC 1737 (Admin);  [2012] WLR (D)  185

“The court had no power to make an order requiring the disclosure of evidence to be used in overseas criminal proceedings except pursuant to the Crime (International Co-operation) Act 2003.”

WLR Daily, 26th June 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

E-Disclosure – Taking Your Head Out of the Sand – Cloisters

Posted June 26th, 2012 in disclosure, documents, electronic mail, news, telecommunications by sally

“E-disclosure is the disclosure of any electronic document. Documents stored electronically are often referred to as electronically stored information or ESI.”

Full story (PDF)

Cloisters, June 2012

Source: www.cloisters.com

Reforming the duty of disclosure in business insurance, and bringing the law on warranties up to date – Law Commission

Posted June 26th, 2012 in consultations, disclosure, insurance, news, warranties by sally

“In a consultation opening today, the Law Commission and Scottish Law Commission are proposing a new law to make clear what businesses must tell insurers when they buy insurance.”

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Law Commission, 26th June 2012

Source: www.lawcommission.justice.gov.uk

Census faces high court challenge over right to privacy – The Guardian

Posted June 21st, 2012 in census, data protection, disclosure, news, privacy, third parties by sally

“A high court judge will be told on Thursday that the 2011 census was unlawful because a provision in the act that governs it allows data to be passed to third parties.”

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The Guardian, 21st June 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Hillsborough disaster’s families to get access to secret documents – The Guardian

Posted June 21st, 2012 in disclosure, documents, families, freedom of information, news, sport by sally

“Families bereaved by the Hillsborough tragedy have learned that they will get access to secret police and government documents within three months after a long campaign for the papers to be released.”

Full story

The Guardian, 20th June 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Tribunals could be able to order companies guilty of “systemic discrimination” to carry out equal pay audits – OUT-LAW.com

“Employment tribunals will be able to order companies who lose sex discrimination cases to disclose the gap in pay between their male and female employees under plans announced by the Equalities Minister.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 18th June 2012

Source: www.out-law.com

There is a democratic deficit in the courts… here’s how to fill it – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted June 18th, 2012 in disclosure, elections, internet, judiciary, law reports, news, parliament by sally

“The current Government often complains about a ‘democratic deficit’ in the courts. It seems that ‘unelected judges’ are making important decisions on social policy without any kind of democratic mandate, particularly in controversial human rights cases.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 17th June 2012

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Revenue and Customs Commissioners v Charman – WLR Daily

Posted May 31st, 2012 in disclosure, documents, law reports, public interest, taxation by tracey

Revenue and Customs Commissioners v Charman: [2012] EWHC 1448 (Fam);  [2012] WLR (D)  165

“As a general rule documents and other evidence produced in ancillary relief proceedings were not disclosable to third parties outside the proceedings save in an exceptional case and for very good reason, unless the court gave leave. The fact that evidence might be relevant or useful was not of itself a good enough reason to undermine that rule.”

WLR Daily, 29th May 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Charging decision in relation to allegations that a police officer passed confidential information to a journalist about Operation Weeting – Crown Prosecution Service

“Statement from Alison Levitt QC, Principal Legal Advisor to the Director of Public Prosecutions:

On the 2 April 2012 the Crown Prosecution Service received a file of evidence from the Metropolitan Police Service requesting charging advice in relation to two suspects. The first is a serving Metropolitan Police Officer in the Operation Weeting team whose name is not in the public domain. He is currently suspended. The second suspect is Amelia Hill, a journalist who writes for The Guardian newspaper.”

Full press release

Crown Prosecution Service, 29th May 2012

Source: www.cps.gov.uk

Police denied TV footage of Dale Farm evictions – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted May 24th, 2012 in disclosure, evidence, freedom of expression, media, news, police, travellers by sally

“The police failed to satisfy the court that their need for footage taken by TV organisations was likely to be of substantial value to criminal investigations and therefore would be a justified interference with the rights of a free press under Article 10 of the Human Rights Convention.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 24th May 2012

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Bush and Blair’s pre-Iraq conversation must be disclosed, tribunal rules – The Guardian

Posted May 22nd, 2012 in disclosure, freedom of information, news, telecommunications, tribunals by sally

“Extracts of a phone conversation between Tony Blair and George Bush a few days before the invasion of Iraq must be disclosed, a tribunal has ruled.”

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The Guardian, 21st May 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Anemometers and wind farms once more: PINS now win the day – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted May 22nd, 2012 in appeals, disclosure, energy, inquiries, news, planning, tribunals by sally

“I have previously posted on the decision leading to this successful appeal by the Planning Inspectorate, against an order that they produce their legal advice concerning a planning appeal. The decision of the First-Tier Tribunal in favour of disclosure was reversed by a strong Upper Tribunal, chaired by Carnwath LJ in his last outing before going to the Supreme Court. So the upshot is that PINS can retain whatever advice which led them to refuse this request for a public inquiry in a locally controversial case.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 22nd May 2012

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Daniel Morgan report cites police and prosecution flaws – BBC News

Posted May 21st, 2012 in disclosure, evidence, informers, inquiries, murder, news, police, prosecutions, witnesses by sally

“The collapse of a trial of three men charged with committing one of Britain’s most notorious unsolved murders has been blamed on failures by police and prosecution.”

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BBC News, 21st May 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk