‘Covert recording is featuring increasingly in both employment and personal injury law – and the ramifications of recent decisions are yet to be fully played out. Two recent cases consider the issue from both sides in the workplace; Phoenix, featured covert recording by an employee and López considered covert surveillance by employers.’
12 King's Bench Walk, 25th March 2020
Source: www.12kbw.co.uk
‘An internal police investigation has uncovered credible evidence that an undercover officer deceived a 19-year-old woman into a long-term sexual relationship.’
The Guardian, 25th February 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Barclays has faced a backlash after it piloted a system that tracked the time employees spent at their desks. The company has since scrapped the system – but how common is workplace surveillance and what lengths are employers allowed to go to monitor their staff?‘
BBC News, 20th February 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Countryside groups have called for tougher rules on the use of tracking devices after a huntswoman allegedly caught an anti-hunt activist planting one under her horse trailer.’
Daily Telegraph, 18th January 2020
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘An 81-year-old retired academic is seeking to overturn a criminal conviction he received after taking part in an anti-apartheid protest that had been infiltrated by an undercover police officer.’
The Guardian, 6th January 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Police recruitment and use of child spies to penetrate “county lines” drug gangs and other criminal or terrorist organisations is lawful, the high court has ruled.’
The Guardian, 8th July 2019
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The High Court has granted charity Just for Kids Law permission to proceed with its judicial review challenge over the use of children as spies by the police and other investigative agencies.’
Local Government Lawyer, 4th March 2019
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘A woman who found out her partner was a policeman paid to spy on her group of activists has said she is the victim of a “conspiracy to rape”.’
BBC News, 4th March 2019
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘A police spy appears to have misled a public inquiry about sexual relationships he had with two women while he was undercover.’
The Guardian, 6th January 2019
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A private security firm has been forced to pay damages to five anti-asbestos campaigners after they discovered it had spied on them. The firm, K2 Intelligence, paid an infiltrator for four years to masquerade as a sympathetic documentary-maker to obtain confidential information about leading activists in the worldwide campaign to ban asbestos.’
The Guardian, 8th November 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Police deployed 24 undercover officers to infiltrate a small leftwing political party over a 37-year period, the Guardian can reveal. The police spies infiltrated the Socialist Workers party (SWP) almost continuously between 1970 and 2007, often with more than one undercover officer embedded within the party.’
The Guardian, 15th October 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A charity has issued judicial review proceedings against the Home Office concerning the use of children as spies by the police and other investigative agencies.’
Local Government Lawyer, 28th September 2018
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Human rights lawyers have been crowdfunding for a judicial review to challenge the government’s use of child spies, arguing that the tactic was incompatible with the UN convention on the rights of the child. Just for Kids Law, a charity that represents, advises and supports children in legal difficulty, has issued a pre-action letter to the Home Office raising concerns over the practice, which has been condemned by politicians and human rights groups.’
The Guardian, 27th September 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Police have admitted for the first time that an undercover officer had a sexual relationship with an environmental activist with the knowledge of bosses.’
BBC News, 21st September 2018
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Parliament’s joint committee on human rights has been asked to investigate the use of child spies by the police and security services, after peers discovered powers covering the practice hidden in obscure secondary legislation.’
The Guardian, 7th August 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘It was reported on Thursday, 5 July 2018, that three core participants in the Undercover Policing Inquiry are intending to launch a legal challenge against the Home Secretary’s decision not to appoint a panel to sit with the Chair, Sir John Mitting. They say a diverse panel is needed who will better understand the issues of racism, sexism and class discrimination that the inquiry will inevitably raise. So where has this challenge come from, and is it likely to succeed?’
UK Human Rights Blog, 10th July 2018
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘Campaigners have been left “dismayed” after it was revealed the public inquiry into undercover policing will not deliver its final report until at least 2023.’
BBC News, 10th May 2018
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Two police officers accused of spying on the sister of a former paratrooper who was unlawfully killed in police custody have been cleared by a disciplinary panel.’
The Guardian, 1st March 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Here in the Royal Courts of Justice we are listening for crumbs of information about the officers who used and abused us. But nothing is revealed.’
The Guardian, 21st November 2017
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Women who were deceived into sexual relationships with undercover police officers have called for an urgent meeting with the home secretary over fears the official public inquiry lacks openness and fails to recognise claims of institutional sexism within the Metropolitan police.’
The Guardian, 19th September 2017
Source: www.theguardian.com
