‘A victim of suspected labour abuse who confidentially disclosed details of exploitation to government investigators says she has been subjected to threats and intimidation after she was outed to her employer.’
The Guardian, 5th February 2023
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The Public Interest Disclosure Act, which introduced Part IVA and S.103A into the Employment Rights Act 1996, was regarded as pioneering, world-leading, legislation when it was passed in 1998. The importance protecting whistleblowers has become generally accepted in the years since then, not only in the United Kingdom but in Europe and beyond.. It is a reasonable assumption that a great deal of “whistleblowing” takes place each and every day which, before 1998, would not have occurred and it does so without any adverse action being taken against the “whistleblowers”. That is a massive cultural change for the better. PIDA and those who framed it must take a great deal of credit for it. However there is no longer a consensus that the legislative framework and the way in which it operates in practice is fit for the purposes of, on the one hand, ensuring that responsible whistleblowers are protected from retribution and, on the other, seeing that those wrongs or hazards to which responsible whistleblowers have drawn attention are remedied or prevented. Indeed Georgina Halford-Hall CEO Whistleblowers UK, writing in the Introduction to All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) Report “Making Whistleblowing Work for Society” said, “In 2020, PIDA is the equivalent of having teeth extracted without anaesthetic.” It is difficult to disagree. And in 2022 the orthodontic experience she was referring to is likely to be even more painful.’
Littleton Chambers, 5th December 2022
Source: littletonchambers.com
‘A recent decision by the England and Wales High Court, refusing to grant a declaration that company officers could not assert privilege in respect of emails stored in a corporate email system, provides useful lessons to businesses on legal professional privilege and disclosure, according to a legal expert.’
OUT-LAW.com, 14th December 2022
Source: www.pinsentmasons.com
‘Earlier this year, in a Divisional Court judgment that garnered much attention from public lawyers, the Home Office conceded that its secret and blanket policy of seizing and downloading data from the mobile phones of all those arriving by small boats was unlawful: R (HM, MA and KH) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWHC 695 (Admin). Having initially denied the existence of the blanket policy as “based on anecdote and surmise” in pre-action correspondence, a position from which the government did not resile following the commencement of judicial review proceedings, the defendant belatedly accepted in advance of the hearing that such a policy did indeed operate between April and November 2020 (para 32). The defendant ultimately accepted that their position prior to this point was “inadvertently inconsistent with the duty of candour” and offered an “unreserved apology” (para 32).’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 7th December 2022
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘The costs recovery outfit chasing personal injury firms on behalf of former clients has suffered another body blow through a new losing court judgment.’
Law Society's Gazette, 11th November 2022
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Essex County Council has personally apologised to a man and agreed to pay him £55,000 in compensation following a civil compensation claim over sexual abuse he suffered as a child while in the council’s care.’
Local Government Lawyer, 4th November 2022
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The Upper Tribunal has provided guidance on social media evidence in age assessment cases. Donnchadh Greene examines its ruling.’
Local Government Lawyer, 4th November 2022
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is going to have to wait until the end of the Post Office inquiry before it can take formal disciplinary action against any lawyers involved in the scandal, it has revealed.’
Legal Futures, 24th October 2022
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Ellis v John Hodge Solicitors (a firm) [2022] EWHC 2284 (Comm) concerned a novel argument against disclosure. The Defendant solicitors had formerly been instructed by the Claimant in personal injury litigation. In later professional negligence proceedings against the Defendant, the Claimant sought disclosure of his client file from the personal injury claim. It was common ground that file was disclosable under CPR PD51U, being highly relevant to the Claimant’s professional negligence claim and Defendant’s counterclaim for unpaid fees. Nevertheless, the Defendant declined disclosure on the basis it was exercising its common law lien for unpaid fees. Accordingly, the issue was not whether the file’s specific disclosure should be ordered, but whether a solicitor’s common law rights to a lien in respect of costs can restrict CPR disclosure obligations. Read our case comment to find out what justified disclosure, without the usual “Robins” undertakings.’
Gatehouse Chambers, 11th October 2022
Source: gatehouselaw.co.uk
‘A sex abuse survivor has been paid a substantial sum after claiming school staff failed to protect her when she was raped by her mother’s partner.’
BBC News, 14th October 2022
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Electronically stored information (ESI) is crucial to resolving your disputes and complying with your disclosure obligations.’
OUT-LAW.com, 4th October 2022
Source: www.pinsentmasons.com
‘Six-year-old Rikki Neave disappeared after leaving home for school in November 1994 – his body was discovered the following day. A BBC investigation has found that police ignored scientific evidence to build a case against his mother, leaving his killer free for more than 20 years.’
BBC News, 3rd October 2022
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Online platform providers are set to face new legal duties to disclose details on user engagement with their services in the EU, with an initial deadline to report such information by the middle of February next year likely to apply, according to analysis undertaken by Out-Law.’
OUT-LAW.com, 15th September 2022
Source: www.pinsentmasons.com
‘DPP Max Hill’s speech to the Cambridge Symposium on Economic Crime.’
Crown Prosecution Service, 5th September 2022
Source: www.cps.gov.uk
‘A Norwich Pharmacal Order (NPO) is a disclosure order available in England and Wales which allows information to be obtained from third parties who have become ‘mixed up’ in wrongdoing, helping victims to investigate, pursue those ultimately responsible and recover their losses.’
OUT-LAW.com, 25th August 2022
Source: www.pinsentmasons.com
‘The High Court has refused a leading law firm an injunction to stop an opposing party making a use of a document it disclosed by mistake that cast doubt on an expert’s independence.’
Legal Futures, 26th August 2022
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Ministers have partially lost an attempt to keep secret a series of comments about Rwanda from an adviser.’
BBC News, 17th August 2022
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘In the Business and Property Courts (B&PCs), Practice Direction (PD) 57AC has applied to all trial witness statements signed since 6 April 2021. The commencement date of the Disclosure Pilot Scheme (under PD 51U), was 1 January 2019. However, it has been approved and will become permanent from 1 October 2022 (under PD 57AD).
I want to share a few reflections, based on recent experience, around how the rules in these two Practice Directions can interact at trial.’
Practical Law: Construction Blog, 3rd August 2022
‘The Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab has today (20 July 2022) set out a package of measures that take aim at so-called “Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation” (SLAPPs).’
Ministry of Justice, 20th July 2022
Source: www.gov.uk
‘The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has suggested that people defending themselves from strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) could be protected by a £5,000 costs cap.’
Legal Futures, 22nd July 2022
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
© Inner Temple Library 2025