Britain open to terrorist drone attacks due to lax aviation rules, experts fear – The Independent

Posted January 26th, 2015 in aircraft, bills, disclosure, enforcement, freedom of information, news, terrorism by sally

‘Terrorists could use swarms of drones to bring down passenger aircraft, disperse chemical or biological weapons and target a nuclear power plants in Britain because of our lax aviation rules.’

Full story

The Independent, 23rd January 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

How to apply the DPA – Panopticon

Posted January 16th, 2015 in data protection, disclosure, freedom of information, necessity, news by sally

‘Section 40 of FOIA is where the Freedom of Information Act (mantra: disclose, please) intersects with the Data Protection Act 1998 (mantra: be careful how you process/disclose, please).’

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Panopticon, 15th January 2015

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Police stole identities of dead children as old as 17 – Daily Telegraph

Posted January 7th, 2015 in children, freedom of information, identity fraud, news, police by tracey

‘The identities of dead teenagers as old as 17 were stolen by undercover police officers, according to figures released by Scotland Yard after an MP’s near two-year battle to expose the information.’

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Daily Telegraph, 6th January 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Prince Charles letters row: Supreme Court to hear case – BBC News

Posted November 24th, 2014 in confidentiality, disclosure, freedom of information, news, royal family, veto by sally

‘The Supreme Court is set to consider whether letters from Prince Charles to the government should be made public.’

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BBC News, 24th November 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Public access to local authority information: transparency with teeth – Panopticon

Posted November 21st, 2014 in documents, freedom of information, local government, news, planning by tracey

‘The Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations are the dominant statutory regimes for public transparency, but they are of course not the only ones. A good example is the regime under the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), particularly sections 100A-K. Those provisions govern public access to local authority meetings, as well as the public availability of minutes, reports, background documents and so on for such meetings, subject to provisions for exempt information (Schedule 12A). A recent judgment of the Admin Court (Cranston J) in a planning matter, Joicey v Northumberland County Council [2014] EWHC 3657 (Admin) illustrates the importance of compliance with that regime for public access to information.’

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Panopticon, 20th November 2014

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Government on Trial – BBC Law in Action

‘The Appeal Court has allowed a Libyan man to proceed with legal action against the British government, despite the government’s claim that the case could damage relations with the United States. Joshua Rozenberg discusses the implications.’

Listen

BBC Law in Action, 4th November 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Tribunal rejects call by FOI requester for names of legal advisors at care regulator – Local Government Lawyer

Posted November 5th, 2014 in care workers, disclosure, freedom of information, news, tribunals by sally

‘The First-tier Tribunal (FTT) has upheld the Care Quality Commission’s refusal to supply the names of individuals who provided it with legal advice on the de-registration of a care agency.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 5th November 2014

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Good Things Come to Those Who (Have Inherent) Weight – Panopticon

Posted October 30th, 2014 in appeals, disclosure, freedom of information, news, public interest, tribunals by sally

‘Philosophically, everything must have an inherent weight. Otherwise it would have no weight at all. But FOIA is not concerned with philosophy; it is much more concerned with who is in charge of the sheep dip, and indeed the levels of public funding for the sheep being dipped. (No points for spotting that reference, Bruce.) As a result, there are often debates in the FOIA case law about whether a particular qualified exemption contains an inherent weight, i.e. is the fact that the exemption is engaged at all sufficient to place some weight in the public interest balance against disclosure? The answer varies according to the particular exemption.’

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Panopticon, 29th October 2014

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Strack v European Commission – WLR Daily

Posted October 7th, 2014 in documents, EC law, freedom of information, law reports, proportionality by sally

Strack v European Commission (Case C‑127/13 P) ECLI:EU:C:2014:2250; [2014] WLR (D) 40

‘An institution of the European Union could, in exceptional circumstances, refuse access to certain documents on the ground that the workload relating to their disclosure would be disproportionate as compared to the objectives set by the application for access to those documents. However, reliance on the principle of proportionality could not allow the time-limits laid down by Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (OJ 2001 L145, p 43) to be changed without creating a situation of legal uncertainty.’

WLR Daily, 2nd October 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Legal Update: disclosure, formats and context – Law Society’s Gazette

‘Disclosure of information about children, pursuant to a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FoI), is always a difficult issue and the natural reaction of public authorities is to err on the side of caution.’

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Law Society’s Gazette, 1st September 2014

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Judges could hear information rights tribunal cases on their own – OUT-LAW.com

‘Judges could determine the outcome of some information rights tribunal cases on their own in future under just-published proposals.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 19th August 2014

Source: www.out-law.com

Accountant’s reports safe from public exposure after FoI ruling – Legal Futures

‘The Law Society’s freedom of information adjudicator has rejected a bid to open up public access to accountant’s reports submitted to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 20th August 2014

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Evidence during FOI disputes can be provided in secret, rules Court of Appeal – OUT-LAW.com

‘Public bodies defending a decision to withhold information requested under freedom of information (FOI) laws can submit evidence to an information rights tribunal in secret, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 4th August 2014

Source: www.out-law.com

Innes v Information Commissioner and another – WLR Daily

Innes v Information Commissioner and another [2014] EWCA 1086; [2014] WLR (D) 358

‘Under section 11(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 a claimant requesting information under section 1(1) of the 2000 Act was entitled to stipulate what software format should be used when the information sought was provided to him.’

WLR Daily, 31st July 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Requests for FOI disclosures in particular formats must generally be adhered to, rules Court of Appeal – OUT-LAW.com

Posted August 4th, 2014 in appeals, disclosure, freedom of information, interpretation, news by sally

‘Public bodies must generally adhere to individuals’ requests for information to be provided in a specific electronic format under freedom of information (FOI) laws, the Court of Appeal in London has ruled.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 1st August 2014

Source: www.out-law.com

Open justice and freedom of information – Court of Appeal judgment in Browning – Panopticon

Posted August 1st, 2014 in closed material, evidence, freedom of information, news, tribunals by sally

‘Last month I penned a post on the issue of how the principle of natural justice can be reconciled with the use of closed procedures in FOIA appeals. The post was written against the backdrop of the Court of Appeal hearing of the appeal in the Browning case. Today the Court of Appeal has handed down its judgment. Mr Browning’s appeal was dismissed.’

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Panopticon, 30th July 2014

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Section 11 FOIA and the Form of a Request – Panopticon

Posted August 1st, 2014 in electronic mail, freedom of information, news, school admissions by sally

‘In the usual end of term rush, the Court of Appeal has handed down judgment in Innes v Information Commissioner [2014] EWCA Civ 1086 on the provision in section 11 FOIA which allows a requestor to express a preference for communication by a particular means, so long as it is reasonably practicable to give effect to the preference. The issue in Innes was that Mr Innes had requested certain school admissions information and had sent a further email shortly afterwards asking for that information to be supplied to him in Excel format. The ICO, the FTT and the Upper Tribunal had all ruled against Mr Innes, in part relying on the Scottish decision of Glasgow City Council v Scottish Information Commissioner [2009] CSIH 73; [2010] SC 125.’

Full story

Panopticon, 1st August 2014

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Browning v Information Commissioner and Another – WLR Daily

Browning v Information Commissioner and Another [2014] EWCA Civ 1050;  [2014] WLR (D) 346

‘The First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber) Rules 2009 permitted the tribunal when hearing an appeal against a decision of the Information Commissioner to adopt a closed material procedure in which a party and his legal representatives were excluded from the hearing or part of it.’

WLR Daily, 30th July 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Academies and FOI – Panopticon

Posted July 17th, 2014 in education, freedom of information, news, tribunals by tracey

‘The question of whether information is ‘held’ by a public authority for FOIA or EIR purposes can raise difficulties. This is especially so where the boundaries between public and private service provision are blurred: consider outsourcing, privatisation of services, public/private partnerships, joint ventures, the use of external consultants and so on. Legal separation and practical day-to-day realities can often point in different directions in terms of who holds information on whose behalf.’

Full story

Panopticon, 16th July 2014

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Fall in number of offenders barred from working with children – The Guardian

Posted June 24th, 2014 in cautions, criminal records, freedom of information, news, statistics, vetting by sally

‘The number of people who have committed child sex offences and have been barred from working with children has fallen by nearly 10,000 over the past three years, according to freedom of information disclosures.’

Full story

The Guardian, 24th June 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk