Tag: Information

Southwark Council (Local Government (District Council)) FS50665460: ICO 28 Mar 2017

ICO The complainant has requested information from the London Borough of Southwark broadly relating to habitual complainers. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Council does not hold any further information falling within the scope of the request. The Commissioner requires the Council to take no steps.
FOI 1: Not upheld

[2017] UKICO FS50665460
Bailii
England and Wales

Information

Updated: 12 November 2021; Ref: scu.583811

Stichting Greenpeace Nederland, Pesticide Action Network Europe (Pan Europe) v European Commission: ECJ 8 Oct 2013

ECJ Access to documents – Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 – Documents relating to the first authorisation of the placing on the market of the active substance ‘glyphosate’ – Partial refusal of access – Risk of an adverse effect on the commercial interests of a natural or legal person – Article 4(5) of Regulation No 1049/2001 – Overriding public interest – Regulation (EC) No 1367/2006 – Article 6(1) of Regulation No 1367/2006 – Directive 91/414/EEC

N J Forwood, P
T-545/11, [2013] EUECJ T-545/11
Bailii
European

Information, Environment

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.516354

Department of Health, Regina (on The Application of) v Information Commissioner: Admn 20 Apr 2011

The department appealed against an order requiring it to disclose statistical information about late abortions. The department argued that the numbers involved were such that the individual patients involved mighty be identified, and that therefore the information constituted personal data and was exempt under section 40 of the 2000 Act. The claimant had altered its practice to follow guidelines published by the Office for National Statistics. Though there had been occasional attempts to identify the doctors and patients involved, the risks were thought to be low.
Held: The decision to order the disclosure of the information was correct. The Tribunal had been in error in holding the requested information to be personal data. The court traced where the Data Protection and Freedom of Information laws met and used similar definitions. The fact that the Department had other information which could be added to the data to identify subjects did not make this personal data. The consequences of the identification of a patient could indeed be disatrous, but the tribunal had been entitled to conclude that the risk was extremely remote.

Cranston J
[2011] EWHC 1430 (Admin)
Bailii
Freedom of Information Act 2000 1(1) 40, Abortion Act 1967 1(1), Data Protection Act 1998 7(1)(c), European Council Directive 95/46/EC on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Corporate Officer of the House of Commons v The Information Commissioner and others Admn 16-May-2008
Applicants had sought disclosure of information supplied by members of Parliament in support of expenses claims. The Office appealed against an order from the Commissioner to produce that information, saying that the actions of Parliament are not . .
Cited – Department of Health v Information Commissioner (Freedom of Information Act 2000) FTTGRC 15-Oct-2009
The Department had altered the way it reported the incidence of late abortions so as to protect the identities of those involved. It said that the numbers were so small that any detail could lead to identification.
Held: (1) The disputed . .
Cited – Common Services Agency v Scottish Information Commissioner HL 9-Jul-2008
An MP had asked the Agency under the 2002 Act for details of all incidents of childhood leukaemia for both sexes by year from 1990 to 2003 for all the DG (Dumfries and Galloway) postal area by census ward. The Agency replied by saying that the . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Information, Health Professions

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.440859

ZXC v Bloomberg Lp: QBD 23 Feb 2017

Investigation of claimant was properly disclosed

The claimant requested the removal of material naming him from the defendant’s website. Criminal investigations into a company with which he was associated were begun, but then concluded. In the interim, the article was published. The hearing had been in private and the claimant anonymised.
Held: The weight to be attached to the Defendant’s art 10 rights here comfortably outweighed the Claimant’s article 8 rights. In those circumstances, the claim based on Art 8 and the Claimant’s expectation of privacy failed. Moreover, the defence under section 32 was such that the Claimant could not show that he was likely to succeed in overcoming that defence: ‘the decision to refer to the Claimant in the article was taken after careful consideration of the relevant circumstances, including the public interest in the disclosure of the Claimants involvement. In my judgment, it is clear that the Defendant as data controller believed, and believed on reasonable grounds, that publication would be in the public interest.’
The fact that ERY proceeded from a concession meant it was only weak support for the existence of such an expectation, but rejected a submission by the defendant that there was a blanket rule against it – it was a fact sensitive question. He identified a number of features in that case (including the confidentiality of the document and the fact that it came into the hands of the defendant via an unauthorised leak) which led him to the conclusion that the claimant would reasonably have expected that the document: ‘would remain private to the law enforcement agency and the other party receiving it’

Garnham J
[2017] EWHC 328 (QB), [2017] EMLR 21
Bailii
Civil Procedure Rules 39.2, European Convention on Human Rights 6 8 10, Date Protection Act 1998 32
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Attorney General’s Reference No 3 of 1999: Application By the British Broadcasting Corporation To Set Aside or Vary a Reporting Restriction Order HL 17-Jun-2009
An application was made to discharge an anonymity order made in previous criminal proceedings before the House. The defendant was to be retried for rape under the 2003 Act, after an earlier acquittal. The applicant questioned whether such a order . .

Cited by:
Cited – Richard v The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Another ChD 18-Jul-2018
Police suspect has outweighable Art 8 rights
Police (the second defendant) had searched the claimant’s home in his absence in the course of investigating allegations of historic sexual assault. The raid was filmed and broadcast widely by the first defendant. No charges were brought against the . .
See Also – ZXC v Bloomberg LP QBD 17-Apr-2019
Claim for misuse of private information. The central issue is whether the Claimant can have a reasonable expectation of privacy in information that relates to a criminal investigation into his activities. . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Information, Human Rights, Media

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.577510

Clientearth v European Commission: ECJ 13 Sep 2013

clientearth_ec092013

ECJ Access to documents – Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 – Studies received by the Commission concerning the transposition of directives on the environment – Partial refusal of access – Exception relating to protection of the purpose of inspections, investigations and audits – Specific and individual assessment – Compatibility with the Aarhus Convention – Overriding public interest – Consequences of exceeding the period for the adoption of an express decision – Extent of the obligation actively to disseminate environmental information

H. Kanninen P
T-111/11, [2013] EUECJ T-111/11
Bailii
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001
Citing:
See Also – ClientEarth v European Commission ECFI 13-Nov-2012
ECFI Actions for annulment – Access to documents – Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 – Implied refusal of access – Period allowed for commencing proceedings – Delay – Manifest inadmissibility . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

European, Information, Environment

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.515263

Lampert v Information Commissioner and Financial Services Authority: FTTGRC 7 Jun 2011

For the reasons set out, the Public Authority was not obliged to comply with the Complainant’s request for information by reason of sections 14(1) and 14(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. No action is required by the Public Authority.

[2011) UKFTT EA – 2010 – 0203
Bailii
Freedom of Information Act 2000 1 14 40
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Durant v Financial Services Authority CA 8-Dec-2003
The appellant had been unsuccessful in litigation against his former bank. The Financial Services Authority had subsequently investigated his complaint against the bank. Using section 7 of the Data Protection Act 1998, he requested disclosure of his . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Financial Services, Information

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.440387

Sugar v British Broadcasting Corporation and Another: HL 11 Feb 2009

The Corporation had commissioned a report as to its coverage of Middle East issues. The claimant requested a copy, and the BBC refused saying that the report having been obtained for its own journalistic purposes, and that it was not covered by the 2000 Act. The claimant appealed against a confirmation by the CA that neither the Information Commissioner nor the Information Tribunal had jurisdiction to order the release of the report.
Held: The appeal succeeded. The request was necessarily made to the BBC as a public authority. It was wrong to treat it as a request to a non-public authority because of the nature of the document. The Information Commissioner therefore did have the jurisdiction to test whether the document was held for the purposes of journalism, and an appeal against his decision to the High Court. The case was remitted for this purpose. (Lord Hoffmann and Lady Hale dissenting)

Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, Lord Hoffmann, Lord Hope of Craighead, Baroness Hale of Richmond, Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury
[2009] UKHL 9, Times 12-Feb-2009, [2009] 1 WLR 430, [2009] 4 All ER 111, [2009] EMLR 254, [2009] All ER (D) 101
Bailii, HL
Freedom of Information Act 2000
England and Wales
Citing:
At First Instance – British Broadcasting Corporation v Sugar and Another Admn 27-Apr-2007
The applicant sought publication of a report prepared for the respondent as to the even handedness of its reporting of matters in the middle east. The BBC had refused saying that the release of the report would have direct impact on its ability to . .
Appeal from – Sugar and Another v British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) CA 25-Jan-2008
The court upheld Davis J’s decision that neither the Commissioner nor the Tribunal had had any jurisdiction to entertain Mr Sugar’s challenges to the BBC’s refusal to disclose the Balen report. . .
Cited – Watt (Formerly Carter) v Ahsan HL 21-Nov-2007
The claimant was a Pakistani member of the Labour Party. He had sought selection as parliamentary candidate, but allegations had been made about behaviour of members in the Pakistani community in his ward and the local party had been suspended. A . .
Cited – Edwards (Inspector of Taxes) v Bairstow HL 25-Jul-1955
The House was asked whether a particular transaction was ‘an adventure in the nature of trade’.
Held: Although the House accepted that this was ‘an inference of fact’, on the primary facts as found by the Commissioners ‘the true and only . .
Cited – Moyna v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions HL 31-Jul-2003
The appellant had applied for and been refused disability living allowance on the basis of being able to carry out certain cooking tasks.
Held: The purpose of the ‘cooking test’ is not to ascertain whether the applicant can survive, or enjoy a . .
Cited – Regina v Kensington and Chelsea (Royal) London Borough Rent Officer, Ex parte Noel 1978
A rent officer can investigate whether a tenancy is protected by the Rent Act 1977 in order to decide whether he has jurisdiction to fix the rent. . .
At IT – Sugar v Information Commissioner IT 29-Aug-2006
IT At this preliminary hearing the Tribunal finds that at the time of the request made by Mr Sugar to the BBC for a copy of the Balen Report it was held for purposes other than those of journalism, art or . .
At IT – Sugar v Information Commissioner IT 29-Aug-2006
The Preliminary Issue before the Information Tribunal
The Tribunal decided on 2 March 2006, under its rule 10 procedure (summary disposal of appeals – The Information Tribunal (Enforcement Appeals) Rules 2005 (the Rules), in the absence of the . .
Cited – Regina v Lancashire County Council ex parte Huddleston CA 1986
The respondent council had failed to allocate a university student grant to the claimant and the principle was directed at the duty of that authority to state clearly the reasons for its refusal and the particular factors that had been taken into . .

Cited by:
At HL – British Broadcasting Corporation v Sugar and Another Admn 2-Oct-2009
Disclosure was sought of a report prepared by the BBC to assess the balance of its coverage of middle east affairs. The BBC said that the information was not held for purposes other than those of journalism, art or literature. One issue was whether . .
At HL – Sugar v Information Commissioner IT 14-May-2009
. .
At HL – Sugar v The British Broadcasting Commission and Another (No 2) CA 23-Jun-2010
The respondent had had prepared a report as to the balance of its reporting of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Earlier proceedings had established that the purposes of the holding of the reporting included jurnalism. The claimant now appealed . .
At HL – Sugar v British Broadcasting Corporation and Another (2) SC 15-Feb-2012
The claimant sought release of a report prepared by the respondent as to its coverage of the Arab/Israel conflict partly for journalistic purposes, and partly for compliance.
Held: The appeal failed. Where the report was prepared even if only . .
Applied – Clarkson v Information Commissioner FTTGRC 18-Dec-2013
The Tribunal Procedure (First-Tier Tribunal) (General Regulatory Chamber) Rules 2009 – application of journalism exception – claim struck out. . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Information, Media

Leading Case

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.293986

Z v Finland: ECHR 25 Feb 1997

A defendant had appealed against his conviction for manslaughter and related offences by deliberately subjecting women to the risk of being infected by him with HIV virus. The applicant, Z, had been married to the defendant, and infected by him with HIV. Z’s doctors had been required to give evidence about her medical condition in spite of their, and her, objections to the disclosure of this information, and the police seized her medical records, including laboratory tests and information about her mental state. The police copied these and the Court included them in the case file.
Held: The court considered the making of an order for the disclosure of medical records: ‘In this connection the court will take into account that the protection of personal data, not least medical data, is of fundamental importance to a person’s enjoyment of his or her right to respect for private and family life as guaranteed by Article 8 of the Convention. Respecting the confidentiality of health data is a vital principle in the legal systems of all the Contracting Parties to the Convention. It is crucial not only to respect the sense of privacy of a patient but also to preserve his or her confidence in the medical profession and in the health services in general. Without such protection those in need of medical assistance may be deterred, when revealing such information of a personal and intimate nature as may be necessary in order to receive the appropriate treatment, from seeking such assistance thereby endangering their own health but, in the case of transmissible diseases, that of the community. The domestic law must therefore afford appropriate safeguards so there may be no such communication or disclosure of personal health data as may be inconsistent with the guarantees of Article 8 of the Convention.’

22009/93, (1997) 25 EHRR 371, [1997] ECHR 10
Worldlii, Bailii
Human Rights
Cited by:
Cited – Kent County Council v The Mother, The Father, B (By Her Children’s Guardian); Re B (A Child) (Disclosure) FD 19-Mar-2004
The council had taken the applicant’s children into care alleging that the mother had harmed them. In the light of the subsequent cases casting doubt on such findings, the mother sought the return of her children. She applied now that the hearings . .
Cited – Szuluk, Regina (on the Application of) v HM Prison Full Sutton Admn 20-Feb-2004
The prisoner was receiving long term health treatment, and objected that his correspondence with the doctor was being read. He was held as a category B prisoner but in a prison also holding category A prisoners, whose mail would be read. The prison . .
Cited – Campbell v Mirror Group Newspapers Ltd (MGN) (No 1) HL 6-May-2004
The claimant appealed against the denial of her claim that the defendant had infringed her right to respect for her private life. She was a model who had proclaimed publicly that she did not take drugs, but the defendant had published a story . .
Cited – Campbell v Mirror Group Newspapers Ltd (MGN) (No 1) HL 6-May-2004
The claimant appealed against the denial of her claim that the defendant had infringed her right to respect for her private life. She was a model who had proclaimed publicly that she did not take drugs, but the defendant had published a story . .
Cited – Regina (Kent Pharmaceuticals Ltd) v Serious Fraud Office CA 11-Nov-2004
In 2002 the SFO was investigating allegations that drug companies were selling generic drugs, including penicillin-based antibiotics and warfarin, to the National Health Service at artificially sustained prices. To further the investigation the SFO . .
Cited – Ashworth Security Hospital v MGN Limited HL 27-Jun-2002
Order for Journalist to Disclose Sources
The newspaper published details of the medical records of Ian Brady, a prisoner and patient of the applicant. The applicant sought an order requiring the defendant newspaper to disclose the identity of the source of material which appeared to have . .
Cited – Axon, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Health and Another Admn 23-Jan-2006
A mother sought to challenge guidelines issued by the respondent which would allow doctors to protect the confidentiality of women under 16 who came to them for assistance even though the sexual activities they might engage in would be unlawful.
Cited – Mersey Care NHS Trust v Ackroyd QBD 7-Feb-2006
The trust, operators of Ashworth Secure Hospital sought from the defendant journalist disclosure of the name of their employee who had revealed to the defendant matters about the holding of Ian Brady, the Moors Murderer, and in particular medical . .
Cited – KD v Chief Constable of Hampshire QBD 23-Nov-2005
The claimant’s daughter had made a complaint of rape. She alleged that she was sexually harassed by the investigating police officer, and sought damages also from the defendant, his employer. The officer denied that anything improper or . .
Cited – TB, Regina (on the Application of) v The Combined Court at Stafford Admn 4-Jul-2006
The claimant was the child complainant in an allegation of sexual assault. The defendant requested her medical records, and she now complained that she had been unfairly pressured into releasing them.
Held: The confidentiality of a patient’s . .
Cited – Re B (Disclosure to Other Parties) 2001
Witnesses and others involved in children proceedings have article 8 rights. . .
Cited – Norfolk County Council v Webster and others FD 1-Nov-2006
The claimants wished to claim that they were victims of a miscarriage of justice in the way the Council had dealt with care proceedings. They sought that the proceedings should be reported without the children being identified.
Held: A judge . .
Cited – Mersey Care NHS Trust v Ackroyd CA 21-Feb-2007
The defendant journalist had published confidential material obtained from the claimant’s secure hospital at Ashworth. The hospital now appealed against the refusal of an order for him to to disclose his source.
Held: The appeal failed. Given . .
Cited – British Broadcasting Corporation v CAFCASS Legal and others FD 30-Mar-2007
Parents of a child had resisted care proceedings, and now wished the BBC to be able to make a TV programme about their case. They applied to the court for the judgment to be released. Applications were also made to have a police officer’s and . .
Cited – Hafner and Hochstrasser (A Firm), Regina (on the Application of) v Australian Securities and Investments Commission Admn 5-Mar-2008
The Commission renewed its application for a review of a decision on their request for judicial assistance in obtaining evidence from the firm. The firm had produced confidential documents to the court, and not disclosed to the Commission.
Cited – Marper v United Kingdom; S v United Kingdom ECHR 4-Dec-2008
(Grand Chamber) The applicants complained that on being arrested on suspicion of offences, samples of their DNA had been taken, but then despite being released without conviction, the samples had retained on the Police database.
Held: . .
Cited – Re C (A Child) FC 29-Sep-2015
There had been care proceedings as to C. The mother was treated by a psychiatrist, X, and an associate Y. They also prepared expert reports. M formally complained about X, and the charges having been dismissed, the doctors now sought disclosure of . .
Cited – A v British Broadcasting Corporation (Scotland) SC 8-May-2014
Anonymised Party to Proceedings
The BBC challenged an order made by the Court of Session in judicial review proceedings, permitting the applicant review to delete his name and address and substituting letters of the alphabet, in the exercise (or, as the BBC argues, purported . .
Cited – The Christian Institute and Others v The Lord Advocate SC 28-Jul-2016
(Scotland) By the 2014 Act, the Scottish Parliament had provided that each child should have a named person to monitor that child’s needs, with information about him or her shared as necessary. The Institute objected that the imposed obligation to . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Human Rights, Information, Health Professions

Leading Case

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.165488

Sugar v British Broadcasting Corporation and Another (2): SC 15 Feb 2012

The claimant sought release of a report prepared by the respondent as to its coverage of the Arab/Israel conflict partly for journalistic purposes, and partly for compliance.
Held: The appeal failed. Where the report was prepared even if only in part for jurnalistic purposes, it was exempt from disclosure under the 2000 Act. Lord Wilson saying that where as in this case the journalistic purpose was predominant that was sufficient to take it outside the Act. The respondent was a public authority for the purpose of the Act only where an activity fell outside journalistic purposes. Once it was established that the information sought was held by the BBC to any significant degree for the purposes of journalism, it is exempt from production under Act, even if the information is also held for other purposes. The public purpose of disclosing information was balanced against a similar interest that journalistic organisations should not have their basic activities limited by the consequences of disclosure.

Lord Phillips, President, Lord Walker, Lord Brown, Lord Mance, Lord Wilson
[2012] UKSC 4, [2012] 1 WLR 439, [2012] EMLR 17, [2012] 2 All ER 509, [2012] WLR(D) 33
Bailii, Bailii Summary, SC, SC Summary
Freedom of Information Act 2000 7(1)
England and Wales
Citing:
At IT – Sugar v Information Commissioner IT 29-Aug-2006
IT At this preliminary hearing the Tribunal finds that at the time of the request made by Mr Sugar to the BBC for a copy of the Balen Report it was held for purposes other than those of journalism, art or . .
At IT – Sugar v Information Commissioner IT 29-Aug-2006
The Preliminary Issue before the Information Tribunal
The Tribunal decided on 2 March 2006, under its rule 10 procedure (summary disposal of appeals – The Information Tribunal (Enforcement Appeals) Rules 2005 (the Rules), in the absence of the . .
At First Instance – British Broadcasting Corporation v Sugar and Another Admn 27-Apr-2007
The applicant sought publication of a report prepared for the respondent as to the even handedness of its reporting of matters in the middle east. The BBC had refused saying that the release of the report would have direct impact on its ability to . .
See Also – Sugar and Another v British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) CA 25-Jan-2008
The court upheld Davis J’s decision that neither the Commissioner nor the Tribunal had had any jurisdiction to entertain Mr Sugar’s challenges to the BBC’s refusal to disclose the Balen report. . .
At HL – Sugar v British Broadcasting Corporation and Another HL 11-Feb-2009
The Corporation had commissioned a report as to its coverage of Middle East issues. The claimant requested a copy, and the BBC refused saying that the report having been obtained for its own journalistic purposes, and that it was not covered by the . .
At IT – Sugar v Information Commissioner IT 14-May-2009
. .
Cited – British Broadcasting Corporation v Sugar and Another Admn 2-Oct-2009
Disclosure was sought of a report prepared by the BBC to assess the balance of its coverage of middle east affairs. The BBC said that the information was not held for purposes other than those of journalism, art or literature. One issue was whether . .
Appeal from – Sugar v The British Broadcasting Commission and Another (No 2) CA 23-Jun-2010
The respondent had had prepared a report as to the balance of its reporting of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Earlier proceedings had established that the purposes of the holding of the reporting included jurnalism. The claimant now appealed . .
Cited – Chohan v Saggar ChD 1992
Section 423(3) of the 1986 Act requires a plaintiff to show a dominant purpose to remove assets from the reach of actual or potential claimants or creditors, but not excluding the possibility that there might be other purposes behind the relevant . .
Cited – Peach v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis CA 1986
Statements made to the police about the death of Mr Blair Peach should be disclosed to his mother in her action against the police because, although they were made partly for the purpose of a complaint against the police and so would to that extent, . .
Cited – Common Services Agency v Scottish Information Commissioner IHCS 1-Dec-2006
The Agency rejected a request to provide statistics on certain children, saying that the numbers were so small that individuals might be identified.
Held: Since the whole purpose of 2002 Act is the release of information, it should be . .
Cited – Waugh v British Railways Board HL 12-Jul-1979
No Litigation Privilege without Dominant Purpose
An internal report had been prepared by two of the Board’s officers two days after a collision involving the death of a locomotive driver, whose widow brought the action and now sought its production.
Held: The court considered litigation . .
Cited – Regina v Monopolies and Mergers Commission, ex parte South Yorkshire Transport Ltd HL 1993
One bus company took over another, giving it an effective monopoly within the region. The Commission considered that the area involved was sufficiently substantial to cause concern that it may operate against the public interest. At first instance . .
Cited – Secretary of State for Defence v Al-Skeini and others (The Redress Trust Intervening) HL 13-Jun-2007
Complaints were made as to the deaths of six Iraqi civilians which were the result of actions by a member or members of the British armed forces in Basra. One of them, Mr Baha Mousa, had died as a result of severe maltreatment in a prison occupied . .
Cited – Regina v Special Adjudicator ex parte Ullah; Regina v Secretary of State for the Home Department HL 17-Jun-2004
The applicants had had their requests for asylum refused. They complained that if they were removed from the UK, their article 3 rights would be infringed. If they were returned to Pakistan or Vietnam they would be persecuted for their religious . .
Cited – Regina v Secretary of State for the Environment Transport and the Regions and another, ex parte Spath Holme Limited HL 7-Dec-2000
The section in the 1985 Act created a power to prevent rent increases for tenancies of dwelling-houses for purposes including the alleviation of perceived hardship. Accordingly the Secretary of State could issue regulations whose effect was to limit . .

Cited by:
Binding – Kennedy v Charity Commission CA 20-Mar-2012
The claimant sought disclosure of an investigation conducted by the respondent. The respondent replied that the material was exempt within section 32(2). The court had found that that exemption continued permanently even after the inquiry was . .
Cited – Kennedy v The Charity Commission SC 26-Mar-2014
The claimant journalist sought disclosure of papers acquired by the respondent in its conduct of enquiries into the charitable Mariam appeal. The Commission referred to an absolute exemption under section 32(2) of the 2000 Act, saying that the . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Information, Media

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.451296

Mezvinsky and Another v Associated Newspapers Ltd: ChD 25 May 2018

Choice of Division and Business Lists

Claim that the publication of pictures of the young children of the celebrity claimants had been published by the defendant on-line without consent and without pixelation, in breach of their human rights, of data protection, and right to privacy. The defendants now sought the transfer of the case to the Queens Bench Division.
Held: There is concurrent jurisdiction between the two divisions for issuing a privacy claim. The creation of the Media and Communications List was not under the CPR: it is a means by which work that is already within the Queen’s Bench Division is allocated for its proper performance. The creation of the M and CL has no direct extra-divisional effect.’ The application was refused. It had been made in part on mistaken assumptions, and: ‘There is no basis for concluding that the Queen’s Bench Division M and CL is the appropriate, or the more appropriate, venue for this claim. Both the Business List (ChD) and the Queen’s Bench M and CL are appropriate. There are no good reasons to transfer the claim and disturb the legitimate choice made by the claimants at the point the claim was issued.’

Marsh CM
[2018] EWHC 1261 (Ch)
Bailii
Senior Courts Act 1981, Civil Procedure Rules 30
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – NATL Amusements (UK) Ltd and Others v White City (Shepherds Bush) Ltd Partnership and Another TCC 16-Oct-2009
Application for transfer of claim from QBD to TCC. Akenhead J considered an application to transfer a claim from the Chancery Division to the Technology and Construction Court. After reviewing the authorities, he said: ‘It is probably unnecessary to . .
Cited – Appleby Global Group Llc v British Broadcasting Corporation and Another ChD 26-Jan-2018
Claim by international firm of lawyers for breach of confidence against publishers who had received and published that information. The court now considered which division of the High Court should hear the claim.
Held: Rose J considered the . .
Cited – Douglas and others v Hello! Ltd and others (No 3) CA 18-May-2005
The principal claimants sold the rights to take photographs of their wedding to a co-claimant magazine (OK). Persons acting on behalf of the defendants took unauthorised photographs which the defendants published. The claimants had retained joint . .
Cited – Murray v Big Pictures (UK) Ltd; Murray v Express Newspapers CA 7-May-2008
The claimant, a famous writer, complained on behalf of her infant son that he had been photographed in a public street with her, and that the photograph had later been published in a national newspaper. She appealed an order striking out her claim . .
Cited – Rocknroll v News Group Newspapers Ltd ChD 17-Jan-2013
The claimant sought an order to restrain the defendant from publishing embarrassing photographs taken at a private party. He had taken an assignment of the copyright from the photographer.
Held: The court considered whether the extent to which . .
Cited – Gulati and Others v MGN Limited ChD 21-May-2015
The claimants each claimed that their mobile phones had been hacked by or on behalf of the defendant newspaper group. The claims had now in substance been admitted, and the court set out to assess the damages (and aggravated damages) to be paid.
Cited – Appleby Global Group Llc v British Broadcasting Corporation and Another ChD 26-Jan-2018
Claim by international firm of lawyers for breach of confidence against publishers who had received and published that information. The court now considered which division of the High Court should hear the claim.
Held: Rose J considered the . .
Cited – CRE v Justis Publishing Ltd 20-Mar-2017
The defendant company published case law. The claimant’s case had been anonymised, but the defendant published a version of the judgment from which it was possible to identify him (or her). An order had been made to transfer the case to the County . .
Cited – Ali and Another v Channel 5 Broadcast Ltd ChD 22-Feb-2018
The claimants said that a filming of their eviction from property was an invasion of their privacy.
Held: The Claimants did have a reasonable expectation of privacy in respect of the information included in the Programme about which they . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Media, Intellectual Property, Information, Torts – Other, Human Rights, Litigation Practice

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.616902

Richard v The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Another: ChD 18 Jul 2018

Police suspect has outweighable Art 8 rights

Police (the second defendant) had searched the claimant’s home in his absence in the course of investigating allegations of historic sexual assault. The raid was filmed and broadcast widely by the first defendant. No charges were brought against the claimant. He now claimed damages for breach of his privacy rights.
Held: The claims succeeded. The court generally preferred as an explanation of how SYP had come to disclose the material they did disclose to the BBC, that given by the SYP. The question, whether the existence of a police investigation gave rise to a reasonable expectation of privacy, had not been clearly and authoritatively answered, but the starting point was that a suspect had a legitimate expectation of privacy. That might be displaced on particular occasions according to the facts. It was not displaced merely by the involvement of the media. A balance had to be found between the suspects article 8 rights and the article 10 rights of the media. In this case the defendant’s article 10 rights were not sufficient to take the balance into their favour.
Mann J said: ‘whether or not there is a reasonable expectation of privacy in a police investigation is a fact-sensitive question and is not capable of a universal answer one way or the other. ‘
Mann J continued: ‘It seems to me that on the authorities, and as a matter of general principle, a suspect has a reasonable expectation of privacy in relation to a police investigation, and I so rule. As a general rule it is understandable and justifiable (and reasonable) that a suspect would not wish others to know of the investigation because of the stigma attached. It is, as a general rule, not necessary for anyone outside the investigating force to know, and the consequences of wider knowledge have been made apparent in many cases: see above. If the presumption of innocence were perfectly understood and given effect to, and if the general public were universally capable of adopting a completely open and broad-minded view of the fact of an investigation so that there was no risk of taint either during the investigation or afterwards (assuming no charge) then the position might be different. But neither of those things is true. The fact of an investigation, as a general rule, will of itself carry some stigma, no matter how often one says it should not.’

Mann J
[2018] EWHC 1837 (Ch), [2018] WLR(D) 457, [2018] 3 WLR 1715, [2018] EMLR 26, [2019] Ch 169, [2019] 2 All ER 105, [2018] HRLR 16
Bailii, WLRD
European Convention on Human Rights 8 10
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Ash and Another v McKennitt and others CA 14-Dec-2006
The claimant was a celebrated Canadian folk musician. The defendant, a former friend, published a story of their close friendship. The claimant said the relationship had been private, and publication infringed her privacy rights, and she obtained an . .
Cited – Murray v Big Pictures (UK) Ltd; Murray v Express Newspapers CA 7-May-2008
The claimant, a famous writer, complained on behalf of her infant son that he had been photographed in a public street with her, and that the photograph had later been published in a national newspaper. She appealed an order striking out her claim . .
Cited – Hannon and Another v News Group Newspapers Ltd and Another ChD 16-May-2014
The claimants alleged infringement of their privacy, saying that the defendant newspaper had purchased private information from police officers emplyed by the second defendant, and published them. The defendants now applied for the claims to be . .
Cited – PNM v Times Newspapers Ltd and Others CA 1-Aug-2014
The claimant sought a privacy order after being accused of historical serious sexual offences against children.
Held: The judge had properly acted within the range of his discretion, and the appeal was dismissed. The judgment would however . .
Cited – JR38, Re Application for Judicial Review (Northern Ireland) SC 1-Jul-2015
The appellant was now 18 years old. In July 2010 two newspapers published an image of him. He was at that time barely 14 years old. These photographs had been published by the newspapers at the request of the police. The publication of the . .
Cited – ZXC v Bloomberg Lp QBD 23-Feb-2017
Investigation of claimant was properly disclosed
The claimant requested the removal of material naming him from the defendant’s website. Criminal investigations into a company with which he was associated were begun, but then concluded. In the interim, the article was published. The hearing had . .
Cited – Axel Springer Ag v Germany ECHR 7-Feb-2012
ECHR Grand Chamber – A German newspaper had published a story or stories about the arrest and conviction of a well-known TV actor, together with photographs, and various restraining-type orders had been issued by . .
Cited – Rocknroll v News Group Newspapers Ltd ChD 17-Jan-2013
The claimant sought an order to restrain the defendant from publishing embarrassing photographs taken at a private party. He had taken an assignment of the copyright from the photographer.
Held: The court considered whether the extent to which . .
Cited – PNM v Times Newspapers Ltd and Others SC 19-Jul-2017
No anonymity for investigation suspect
The claimant had been investigated on an allegation of historic sexual abuse. He had never been charged, but the investigation had continued with others being convicted in a high profile case. He appealed from refusal of orders restricting . .

Cited by:
Cited – ZXC v Bloomberg Lp CA 15-May-2020
Privacy Expecation during police investigations
Appeal from a judgment finding that the Defendant had breached the Claimant’s privacy rights. He made an award of damages for the infraction of those rights and granted an injunction restraining Bloomberg from publishing information which further . .
Cited – CXZ v ZXC QBD 26-Jun-2020
Malicious Prosecution needs court involvement
W had made false allegations against her husband of child sex abuse to police. He sued in malicious prosecution. She applied to strike out, and he replied saying that as a developing area of law a strike out was inappropriate.
Held: The claim . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Information, Media, Human Rights, Police

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.619900

Veolia Es Nottinghamshire Ltd v Nottinghamshire County Council and Others: CA 29 Oct 2010

An elector sought disclosure under the 1988 Act concerning a contract with certain contractors. The authority refused saying that they were commercially sensitive, and the company said that doisclosure would affect its own human rights.
Held: The right to information under the 1988 Act was not so extensive as to override the claimant’s right to protection of its commercially sensitive documents. Valuable commercial information was protectable as a possession under the first protocol. The exercise in any such case is always fact driven and context sensitive.

Rix, Etherton, Jackson LJJ
[2010] EWCA Civ 1214, [2010] WLR (D) 273
Bailii, WLRD
Audit Commission Act 1998, European Convention on Human Rights 1, Freedom of Information Act 2000 50
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Special Commissioner And Another, ex parte Morgan Grenfell and Co Ltd HL 16-May-2002
The inspector issued a notice requiring production of certain documents. The respondents refused to produce them, saying that they were protected by legal professional privilege.
Held: Legal professional privilege is a fundamental part of . .
Cited – Regina (HTV Ltd) v Bristol City Council QBD 14-May-2004
The claimant sought disclosure by the respondent of their accounts, intending to use the material in a television program.
Held: As ratepayers, they were entitled to the information. The respondent was not free to refuse it because it . .
Appeal from – Hertfordshire County Council v Veolia Water Central Ltd QBD 19-Feb-2010
. .

Cited by:
Cited – Phillips v Newsgroup Newspapers Ltd and Others ChD 17-Nov-2010
The claimant had been assistant to a well known publicist. The defendant had settled an action brought by her principal for hacking his mobile telephone, in the course of which it appeared that the claimant’s phone had also been hacked. She now . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Information, Local Government, Human Rights

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.425613

Hillingdon London Borough Council (Decision Notice): ICO 27 Jan 2014

The complainant has asked the London Borough of Hillingdon (LBH) for copies of various emails’ and diaries between specific dates in 2010. LBH provided the information it held, but the complainant is not satisfied that LBH has provided everything it holds. The Commissioner’s decision is that LBH has complied with the FOIA in that, on the balance of probabilities, no further information is held by LBH within the scope of the request. As the information has been provided, the Commissioner does not require LBH to take any steps.
Section of Act/EIR and Finding: FOI 1 – Complaint Not upheld

[2014] UKICO FS50518016
Bailii
England and Wales

Information

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.527360

Phipps v Boardman: HL 3 Nov 1966

A trustee has a duty to exploit any available opportunity for the trust. ‘Rules of equity have to be applied to such a great diversity of circumstances that they can be stated only in the most general terms and applied with particular attention to the exact circumstances of each case. The relevant rule for the decision of this case is the fundamental rule of equity that a person in a fiduciary capacity must not make a profit out of his trust, which is part of the wider rule that a trustee must not place himself in a position where his duty and his interest may conflict.’
‘The whole of the law is laid down in the fundamental principle exemplified in Lord Cranworth’s statement [in Aberdeen Railway Co v. Blaikie]. But it is applicable, like so many equitable principles which may affect a conscience, however innocent, to such a diversity of different cases that the observations of judges and even in your Lordships’ House in cases where this great principle is being applied must be regarded as applicable only to the particular facts of the particular case in question and not regarded as a new and slightly different formulation of the legal principle so well settled.’ and ‘The phrase ‘possibly may conflict’ requires consideration. In my view it means that the reasonable man looking at the relevant facts and circumstances of the particular case would think that there was a real sensible possibility of conflict; not that you could imagine some situation arising which might, in some conceivable possibility in events not contemplated as real sensible possibilities by any reasonable person, result in conflict.’
The court considered the circumstances under which information has been acquired which impose a duty of confidence: ‘The true test is to determine in what circumstances the information has been acquired. If it has been acquired in such circumstances that it would be a breach of confidence to disclose it to another then courts of equity will restrain the recipient from communicating it to another. In such cases such confidential information is often and for many years has been described as the property of the donor, the books of authority are full of such references: knowledge of secret processes, ‘know-how’, confidential information as to the prospects of a company or of someone’s intention or the expected results of some horse race based on stable or other confidential information. But in the end the real truth is that it is not property in any normal sense but equity will restrain its transmission to another if in breach of some confidential relationship.’
Lord Upjohn said: ‘In general, information is not property at all. It is normally open to all who have eyes to read and ears to hear. The true test is to determine in what circumstances the information has been acquired. If it has been acquired in such circumstances that it would be a breach of confidence to disclose it to another, then courts of equity will restrain the recipient from communicating it to another. In such cases such confidential information is often and for many years has been described as the property of the donor, the books of authority are full of such references; knowledge of secret processes, ‘know-how’, confidential information as to the prospects of a company or of someone’s intention or the expected results of some horse race based on stable or other confidential information. But in the end the real truth is that it is not property in any normal sense, but equity will restrain its transmission to another if in breach of some confidential relationship’.

Lord Upjohn, Lord Hodson
[1966] 3 All ER 721, [1967] 2 AC 46, [1966] UKHL 2
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Bray v Ford HL 1896
An appellate court’s power to order a new trial is conditional on ‘some substantial wrong or miscarriage’ being established.
Lord Hershell said: ‘It is an inflexible rule of the court of equity that a person in a fiduciary position, such as . .
Appeal from – Phipps v Boardman CA 1965
Affirmed . .
At first instance – Phipps v Boardman ChD 1964
Agents of certain trustees had purchased shares, in circumstances where they only had that opportunity because they were agents.
Held: The shares were held beneficially for the trust. . .

Cited by:
Cited – Bhullar and others v Bhullar and Another CA 31-Mar-2003
The claimants were 50% shareholders in a property investment company and sought relief alleging prejudicial conduct of the company’s affairs. After a falling out, two directors purchased property adjacent to a company property but in their own . .
Cited – New Zealand Netherlands Society ‘Oranje’ Inc v Laurentuis Cornelis Kuys PC 1963
(New Zealand) The scope of a fiduciary duty may be modified by a course of dealing by the person to whom the duty is owed. ‘The obligation not to profit from a position of trust, or, as it sometimes relevant to put it, not to allow a conflict to . .
Cited – Crown Dilmun, Dilmun Investments Limited v Nicholas Sutton, Fulham River Projects Limited ChD 23-Jan-2004
There was a contract for the sale of Craven Cottage football stadium, conditional upon the grant of non-onerous planning permissions. It was claimed that the contract had been obtained by the defendant employee in breach of his fiduciary duties to . .
Cited – Douglas and others v Hello! Ltd and others (No 3) CA 18-May-2005
The principal claimants sold the rights to take photographs of their wedding to a co-claimant magazine (OK). Persons acting on behalf of the defendants took unauthorised photographs which the defendants published. The claimants had retained joint . .
Cited – Ultraframe (UK) Ltd v Fielding and others ChD 27-Jul-2005
The parties had engaged in a bitter 95 day trial in which allegations of forgery, theft, false accounting, blackmail and arson. A company owning patents and other rights had become insolvent, and the real concern was the destination and ownership of . .
Cited – Ratiu, Karmel, Regent House Properties Ltd v Conway CA 22-Nov-2005
The claimant sought damages for defamation. The defendant through their company had accused him acting in such a way as to allow a conflict of interest to arise. They said that he had been invited to act on a proposed purchase but had used the . .
Cited – Imageview Management Ltd v Jack CA 13-Feb-2009
The appellant company acted for the respondent footballer in placing him with a football club. The respondent said that he had also taken a payment from the club, nominally for arranging a work permit. The respondent said this was improper. The . .
Cited – O’Donnell v Shanahan and Another CA 22-Jul-2009
The claimant appealed against dismissal of her petition for an order for the defendants to purchase her shares at a fair value, saying that they had acted unfairly toward her. Her co-directors had acquired, for another company of which they were . .
Cited – Gray v News Group Newspapers Ltd and Another; Coogan v Same ChD 25-Feb-2011
The claimants said that agents of the defendant had unlawfully accessed their mobile phone systems. The court was now asked whether the agent (M) could rely on the privilege against self incrimination, and otherwise as to the progress of the case. . .
Cited – Phillips v Mulcaire SC 24-May-2012
The claimant worked as personal assistant to a well known public relations company. She alleged that the defendant had intercepted telephone message given by and left for her. The court was asked first as to whether the information amounted to . .
Cited – Halton International Inc (Holding) and Another v Guernroy Ltd ChD 9-Sep-2005
Parties had entered into a shareholders’ agreement as to voting arrengemets within a company. Thay disputed whether votes had been used in reach of that agreement, particularly as to the issue of new shares and their allotment, but the court now . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Equity, Trusts, Information

Leading Case

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.180410

Halford v The United Kingdom: ECHR 25 Jun 1997

halford_ukECHR1997

The interception of the telephone calls of an employee in a private exchange was a breach of her right of privacy. She had a reasonable expectation of privacy. The police force’s surveillances of the applicant’s telephone (to obtain information regarding a sex discrimination claim she was pursuing in the employment tribunal) was a ‘serious infringement of her rights’ (Article 8 and 13), particularly in the light of the improper use to which the police wished to put the material obtained. The applicant was awarded andpound;10,000 as non-pecuniary damages (even though they rejected her claims that she suffered a stress-related illness as a result of the breach). The interception, being wholly unregulated by statute, was not ‘in accordance with the law’ and was thus an interference with the officer’s article 8(1) right not saved by Article 8(2).

Times 03-Jul-1997, 20605/92, [1997] 24 EHRR 523, [1997] ECHR 32
Worldlii, Bailii
European Convention on Human Rights Art 8
Cited by:
Cited – Anufrijeva and Another v London Borough of Southwark CA 16-Oct-2003
The various claimants sought damages for established breaches of their human rights involving breaches of statutory duty by way of maladministration. Does the state have a duty to provide support so as to avoid a threat to the family life of the . .
Cited – Attorney General’s Reference (No 5 of 2002) HL 14-Oct-2004
The Attorney General sought the correct interpretation of section 17 where a court was asked as to whether evidence obtained from a telephone tapping had been taken from a public or private network. A chief constable suspected that the defendants, . .
Cited – Countryside Alliance and others v HM Attorney General and others Admn 29-Jul-2005
The various claimants sought to challenge the 2004 Act by way of judicial review on the grounds that it was ‘a disproportionate, unnecessary and illegitimate interference with their rights to choose how they conduct their lives, and with market . .
Cited – X and Y v Persons Unknown QBD 8-Nov-2006
The claimants sought an injunction against unknown persons who were said to have divulged confidential matters to newspapers. The order had been served on newspapers who now complained that the order was too uncertain to allow them to know how to . .
Cited – L v L and Hughes Fowler Carruthers QBD 1-Feb-2007
The parties were engaged in ancillary relief proceedings. The Husband complained that the wife had sought to use unlawfully obtained information, and in these proceedings sought delivery up of the material from the wife and her solicitors. He said . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Employment, Information, Human Rights

Leading Case

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.165503

British Telecommunications Plc and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills: Admn 20 Apr 2011

The claimant sought judicial review of legislative provisions requiring Internet Service Providers to become involved in regulation of copyright infringements by its subscribers. They asserted that the Act and proposed Order were contrary to European law.
Held: The request was refused. No obligation had yet fallen on the claimant, and the exact form and rules had not been settled. The anticipated obligations did properly relate to copyright infringement, and so did not go beyond obligations under European law.
Following the decision of the CJEU in Case C-275/05 Promusicae, held that the grounds for derogation under Article 15(1) of the e-Privacy Directive include all the legitimate aims listed in Article 13(1) of the Data Protection Directive.
Kenneth Parker J said: ‘It is not disputed that technical means of avoiding detection are available, for those knowledgeable and skilful enough to employ them. However, the central difficulty of this argument is that it rests upon assumptions about human behaviour. Experts can seek to establish a profile of those who engage in P2P file sharing, and their various reasons for doing so, and may then attempt to predict how these users may be likely to respond if confronted with the kind of regime that the DEA enacts. In theory, some may cease or substantially curtail their unlawful activities, substituting or not, for example, lawful downloading of music; others may simply seek other means to continue their unlawful activities, using whatever technical means are open. The final outcome is uncertain because it is notoriously difficult accurately to predict human behaviour’

Kenneth Parker J
[2011] EWHC 1021 (Admin)
Bailii
Copyright (Initial Obligations) (Sharing of Costs) Order 2011, Digital Economy Act 2010, Technical Standards Directive (Directive 98/34/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998, Electronic Commerce Directive (Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market, OJ 2000 L No 178), Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive, Communications Act 2003, Data Protection Act 1998, Data Protection (Processing of Sensitive Personal Data) Order 2000 (SI 2000/417)
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Google France and Google v Louis Vuitton Malletier (Intellectual Property) ECJ 23-Mar-2010
ECJ Trade marks Internet Search engine – Keyword advertising – Display, on the basis of keywords corresponding to trade marks, of links to sites of competitors of the proprietors of those marks or to sites . .
Cited – Commission v Germany (Rec 1994,p I-2039) (Judgment) ECJ 1-Jun-1994
ECJ 1. In proceedings under Article 169 of the Treaty, it is for the Commission to judge at what time it will bring an action for failure to fulfil obligations; the considerations which determine its choice of . .
Cited – Norwich Pharmacal Co and others v Customs and Excise Commissioners HL 26-Jun-1973
Innocent third Party May still have duty to assist
The plaintiffs sought discovery from the defendants of documents received by them innocently in the exercise of their statutory functions. They sought to identify people who had been importing drugs unlawfully manufactured in breach of their . .
Cited – Liga Portuguesa De Futebol Profissional and Another (Freedom To Provide Services) ECJ 14-Oct-2008
ECJ (Opinion of Advocate General Bot) Legislation of a Member State granting a single entity an exclusive right to organise and operate betting on the internet ‘Technical regulation’ within the meaning of . .
Cited – CIA Security International v Signalson and Securitel ECJ 30-Apr-1996
1. Under the procedure provided for by Article 177 of the Treaty, it is for the national court to assess the scope of national provisions and the manner in which they are to be applied. Since the national court is best placed to assess, in view of . .
Cited – Productores de Musica de Espana (Promusicae) v Telefonica de Espana SAU ECJ 29-Jan-2008
ECJ Information society Obligations of providers of services Retention and disclosure of certain traffic data Obligation of disclosure Limits Protection of the confidentiality of electronic communications . .
Cited – Productores de Musica de Espana (Promusicae) v Telefonica de Espana SAU ECJ 18-Jul-2007
The provisions of article 13, as referred to in article 15(1) of Directive 2002/58/EC concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector ([2002] OJ L201/37) must be interpreted as . .
Cited – Telecom Italia v Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze, Ministero delle Comunicazioni (Freedom To Provide Services) ECJ 21-Feb-2008
ECJ Telecommunications services Directive 97/13/EC Articles 6, 11, 22 and 25 Fees and charges for general authorisations and individual licences Obligation on former holders of exclusive rights Temporary . .
Cited – Wilson v First County Trust Ltd (1) CA 3-Nov-2000
The administrative charges for entering into a loan were not to be included in the loan, but rather as an item entering into the total charge for credit. To hold otherwise went against accounting practice, would disguise the cost of the loan, and . .

Cited by:
Cited – Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp and Others v British Telecommunications Plc ChD 28-Jul-2011
The claimant rights holders sought an order to require the defendant broadband internet provider to deny access to its users to websites which were said to facilitate the distribution of infringing copies of their films. An earlier judgment had . .
Cited – Secretary of State for The Home Department v Davis MP and Others CA 20-Nov-2015
The Secretary of State appealed against a ruling that section 1 of the 2014 Act was inconsistent wih European law.
Held: The following questions were referred to the CJEU:
(1) Did the CJEU in Digital Rights Ireland intend to lay down . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Intellectual Property, European, Information

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.434869

Camera di Commercio, Industria, Artigianato e Agricoltura di Lecce v Manni: ECJ 9 Mar 2017

Individual data on Company registers not erasable

ECJ (Approximation of Laws Approximation of Laws Data Protection Freedom of Establishment – Judgment) Reference for a preliminary ruling – Personal data – Protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data – Directive 95/46/EC – Article 6(1)(e) – Data subject to disclosure in the companies register – First Directive 68/151/EEC – Article 3 – Winding-up of the company concerned – Restriction of access to that data by third parties

[2017] WLR(D) 163, [2017] EUECJ C-398/15, ECLI:EU:C:2017:197
Bailii, WLRD
Directive 95/46/EC
European

Information, Company

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.580710

The Information Commissioner v The FSA and Edem: UTAA 11 Dec 2012

ic_fsa

Information rights – Data protection – whether a person’s name constitutes personal data. As the decision of the First-tier Tribunal (made on 16 April 2012 under reference EA/2011/0132) involved the making of an error in point of law, it is SET ASIDE under section 12(2)(a) and (b)(ii) of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 and the decision is RE-MADE.
The applicant sought disclosure of the names of FSA workers involved in the decision about his matter. The FSA replied that the names were personal data and exempt from dislosure.
Held: The appeal was allowed. The mere

[2012] UKUT 464 (AAC)
Bailii
Citing:
Cited – Durant v Financial Services Authority CA 8-Dec-2003
The appellant had been unsuccessful in litigation against his former bank. The Financial Services Authority had subsequently investigated his complaint against the bank. Using section 7 of the Data Protection Act 1998, he requested disclosure of his . .
Cited – Criminal proceedings against Lindqvist ECJ 6-Nov-2003
Mrs Lindqvist had set up an internet site for her local parish containing information about some of her colleagues in the parish. She gave names, jobs, hobbies and in one case some of the person’s employment and medical details. The Court decided . .

Cited by:
Cited – Oates v Information Commissioner FTTGRC 20-Dec-2013
Whether information held s.1 FOIA – Personal data s.1(1) DPA Personal data s.40 FOIA . .
Appeal from – Edem v The Information Commissioner and Another CA 7-Feb-2014
The claimant sought disclosure of the names of officials of the Financial Services Authority who had dealt with his complaint. He now appealed against reversal of an order that they be disclosed.
Held: The appeal failed. The court approved the . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Information

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.471117

Tele2 Sverige v Post-och telestyrelsen, and Secretary of State for the Home Department: ECJ 21 Dec 2016

ECJ Judgment – Reference for a preliminary ruling – Electronic communications – Processing of personal data – Confidentiality of electronic communications – Protection – Directive 2002/58/EC – Articles 5, 6 and 9 and Article 15(1) – Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – Articles 7, 8 and 11 and Article 52(1) – National legislation – Providers of electronic communications services – Obligation relating to the general and indiscriminate retention of traffic and location data – National authorities – Access to data – No prior review by a court or independent administrative authority – Compatibility with EU law

K. Lenaerts, President
C-203/15, [2016] EUECJ C-203/15
Bailii
Directive 2002/58/EC 15(1), Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 1
European
Citing:
Reference from – Secretary of State for The Home Department v Davis MP and Others CA 20-Nov-2015
The Secretary of State appealed against a ruling that section 1 of the 2014 Act was inconsistent wih European law.
Held: The following questions were referred to the CJEU:
(1) Did the CJEU in Digital Rights Ireland intend to lay down . .

Cited by:
At ECJ – Secretary of State for The Home Department v Watson MP and Others CA 30-Jan-2018
Consideration of case after reference to ECJ.Held: it is appropriate to grant declaratory relief, limited to the context of the prevention, investigation, detection and prosecution of criminal offences, to the effect that DRIPA was inconsistent with . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Information

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.572617

Jehovan Todistajat (Jehovah’s Witnesses Religious Community): ECJ 10 Jul 2018

Door to Door preaching notes were data

Protection of Individuals With Regard To The Collecting and Processing of Personal Data – Door-To-Door Preaching – Judgment – Reference for a preliminary ruling – Protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data – Directive 95/46/EC – Scope of the directive – Article 3 – Data collected and processed by the members of a religious community in the course of their door-to-door preaching – Article 2(c) – Definition of a ‘personal data filing system’ – Article 2(d) – Definition of a ‘controller’ of the processing of personal data – Article 10(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union

President K Lenaerts, Vice-President A Tizzano
[2018] WLR(D) 430, ECLI:EU:C:2018:551, C-25/17, [2018] EUECJ C-25/17
WLRD, Bailii
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Directive 95/46/EC
European

Information, Human Rights

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.620024

HM Revenue and Customs (Central Government): ICO 15 Nov 2017

The complainant has requested from HM Revenue and Customs (‘HMRC’) information relating to a particular company. HMRC stated that the information, if held, would be exempt under section 44(1)(a) of the FOIA and explaining that the duty to confirm or deny whether the information is held does not arise under section 44(2) of the FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that HMRC was correct to refuse to confirm or deny that it holds the requested information under section 44(2). The Commissioner therefore does not require the public authority to take any steps.
FOI 44: Not upheld

[2017] UKICO FS50681295
Bailii
England and Wales

Information

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.602411

Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Central Government): ICO 15 Nov 2017

The complainant submitted a request to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) asking it to confirm whether it was funding Risk Advisory Group to help train the Lebanon army, and if so, details about the nature of this contract. The FCO refused to confirm or deny whether it held any information falling within the scope of this request on the basis of section 38(2) (health and safety) and section 40(2) (personal data) of FOIA. The Commissioner has concluded that section 38(2) is engaged and that the public interest favours maintaining this exemption.
FOI 38: Not upheld

[2017] UKICO FS50684874
Bailii
England and Wales

Information

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.602400

Planning Inspectorate (Central Government): ICO 15 Nov 2017

The complainant has requested from The Planning Inspectorate the Inspector’s notes for 4 appeals determined by a specific inspector, including the notes that were taken in relation to her application for planning permission. The Planning Inspectorate (PI) provided information falling within the scope of the request. The Commissioner’s decision is that, on balance of probabilities, the PI does not hold information further to that already provided.
EIR 5(1): Not upheld

[2017] UKICO FER0687711
Bailii
England and Wales

Information

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.602447

Department for Work and Pensions (Central Government): ICO 15 Nov 2017

The complainant requested information from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) relating to its Unacceptable Customer Behaviour policy. The DWP refused the requests under section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) as compliance with the requests would exceed the appropriate limit. The Commissioner’s decision is that the DWP is entitled to refuse the requests under section 12(1) of the Act. No steps are required.
FOI 12: Not upheld

[2017] UKICO FS50677816
Bailii
England and Wales

Information

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.602391

X and Scottish Prison Service: SIC 10 Jul 2013

On 2 January 2013, Mr X asked the Scottish Prison Service (the SPS) for any guidance it held regarding a specified policy. The SPS informed Mr X that it did not hold the requested information.
Following an investigation, the Commissioner accepted that the SPS did not hold the information in question and that it had dealt with Mr X’s request for information in accordance with Part 1 of FOISA.

[2013] ScotIC 135 – 2013
Bailii
Scotland

Information

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.514912

Johnson v The Medical Defence Union Ltd: ChD 3 Mar 2006

The claimant sought disclosure under the 1998 Act by the defendant of records held by them. The respondent said that the information they held did not amount to data under the Act.
Held: The information was contained in different formats, on paper, electronically and on CD, but was then brought together in a risk assessment. That compilation meant that it was personal data within by the Act. Processing could be part manual and part automatic. Once the data was processed it did not matter whether the original data was or was not in a ‘relevant filing system’. However the Act did not provide for general damages to flow from unfair processing.

Rimer J
[2006] EWHC 321 (Ch)
Bailii
Data Protection Act 1998
England and Wales
Citing:
Approved – Campbell v Mirror Group Newspapers Ltd QBD 27-Mar-2002
The applicant sought damages for the defendant having infringed her privacy in several ways, including under the 1998 Act. The defendant argued that she had invited publicity and had misled the public as to her drug problem. A photograch had been . .
See Also – Johnson v Medical Defence Union Ltd ChD 20-Feb-2004
. .
See Also – Johnson v Medical Defence Union Ltd ChD 9-Nov-2004
The claimant doctor had sought assistance from the defendant, and having been refused it had sought disclosure of its records about him. He had been refused access under the 1998 Act, and now sought access under the Civil Procedure Rules.
Cited by:
Appeal from – Johnson v The Medical Defence Union CA 28-Mar-2007
The claimant asserted that the 1998 Act created rights between the parties that are in substance though not in form of a contractual nature; and rights to compensation for infringement of those primary rights of a nature that did not previously . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Information

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.238892

Regina v Shayler: CACD 28 Sep 2001

Duress as Defence not closely Defined

The defendant had been a member of MI5. He had signed the Official Secrets Act, but then disclosed various matters, including material obtained by interceptions under the Interception of Communications Act. He claimed that his disclosures were made in the public interest. He appealed against a judgment that the Official Secrets Act permitted him no defence of disclosure for the public good, and and that nor was the defence of duress in the particular form of necessity of circumstance, available under the Act. The legislation singled out members and former members of the security services, and the possibility of a defence of public good had been discussed and rejected in the parliamentary process of passing the Act. The defendant had several proper means of disclosure, however inadequate he judged them, and that avenue provided the appropriate balance under the Human Rights Act.
Held: Any definition of the precise limits of the defence of duress and necessity was fraught with difficulty, because its development had been closely related to the particular facts of the different cases which had come before the courts. The central elements were set out in Martin, and in Abdul-Hussain. There was no purpose in making a distinction between the Official Secrets Act and others as regards the defence of necessity, and the particular sensitivities of the work of the intelligence services meant that the provisions did balance the need for freedom of expression. The defendant challenged the power of the judge at a preparatory hearing to rule on propositions of law in these circumstances, under section 29 of CPIA 1996. However there is a need to apply case management considerations to criminal practice, and whilst the defendant’s rights must be preserved, the section should not be interpreted restrictively. The position of the Press in considerations such as these and the Human Rights Act, is not that of a victim.

Lord Woolf, The Lord Chief Justice Of England And Wales, The Hon. Mr Justice Wright, And The Hon. Mr Justice Leveson
Times 10-Oct-2001, Gazette 18-Oct-2001, [2001] EWCA Crim 1977, [2001] 1 WLR 2206
Bailii
Human Rights Act 1998, Official Secrets Act 1989 2 4, Interception of Communications Act 1985, Security Services Act 1989, Intelligence Services Act 1994, Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 29
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Pommell CACD 16-May-1995
The defendant appealed against his conviction for possessing a loaded shotgun. He had wished to advance a defence to the effect that on the previous evening he had taken it ‘off a geezer who was going to do some damage with it’ in order to stop him. . .
Cited – McCartan Turkington Breen (A Firm) v Times Newspapers Limited HL 2-Nov-2000
(Northern Ireland) The defendant reported a press conference at which the claims denying the criminal responsibility of an army private were made. The report was severely critical of the claimants, who then sued in defamation. The defendants claimed . .
Cited – Regina v Martin (Colin) CACD 29-Nov-1988
Defence of Necessity has a Place in Criminal Law
The defendant appealed against his conviction for driving whilst disqualified. He said he had felt obliged to drive his stepson to work because his stepson had overslept. His wife (who had suicidal tendencies) had been threatening suicide unless he . .

Cited by:
Appeal from – Regina v Shayler HL 21-Mar-2002
The defendant had been a member of the security services. On becoming employed, and upon leaving, he had agreed to keep secret those matters disclosed to him. He had broken those agreements and was being prosecuted. He sought a decision that the . .
See also – Regina v Shayler CACD 29-Jul-2003
The defendant appealed against his conviction, saying the restrictions placed upon him in conducting his defence because the fact that he had been a member of the secret services, meant that he had been unable to conduct his defence properly, with . .
Cited – Jones and Milling, Olditch and Pritchard, and Richards v Gloucestershire Crown Prosecution Service CACD 21-Jul-2004
The court considered the extent to which the defendants in the proceedings can rely on their beliefs as to the unlawfulness of the United Kingdom’s actions in preparing for, declaring, and waging war in Iraq in 2003 in a defence to a charge of . .
Cited – Quayle and others v Regina, Attorney General’s Reference (No. 2 of 2004) CACD 27-May-2005
Each defendant appealed against convictions associated variously with the cultivation or possession of cannabis resin. They sought to plead medical necessity. There had been medical recommendations to move cannabis to the list of drugs which might . .
Cited – Regina v Jones (Margaret), Regina v Milling and others HL 29-Mar-2006
Domestic Offence requires Domestic Defence
Each defendant sought to raise by way of defence of their otherwise criminal actions, the fact that they were attempting to prevent the commission by the government of the crime of waging an aggressive war in Iraq, and that their acts were . .
Cited – Regina v CS CACD 29-Feb-2012
The defendant appealed against the refusal of the judge to allow her defence of necessity in answer to a charge under section 1 of the 1984 Act. She said that it had been necessary to prevent the child being sexually abused.
Held: The appeal . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Information, Crime, Human Rights, Media

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.166220

DB v The General Medical Council: QBD 23 Sep 2016

Council unable to Disclose report

The Claimant General Practitioner, sought an order against the General Medical Council to prevent it from disclosing to his former patient, pursuant to his request under the 1988 Act, an expert report obtained by the GMC for the purpose of investigating P’s complaint concerning his professional competence.
Held: The claim succeeded: ‘in conducting the balancing exercise in mixed data cases of this type:
(1) it is essential to keep in mind that the exercise involves a balance between the respective privacy rights of data subjects;
(2) in the absence of consent, the rebuttable presumption or starting point is against disclosure (Durant). Furthermore the express refusal of consent is a specific factor to be taken into account;
(3) if it appears that the sole or dominant purpose is to obtain a document for the purpose of a claim against the other data subject, that is a weighty factor in favour of refusal, on the basis that the more appropriate forum is the Court procedure under CPR 31.’

Soole J
[2016] EWHC 2331 (QB)
Bailii
Data Protection Act 1998
England and Wales

Health Professions, Information

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.569595

Secretary of State for The Home Department v Davis MP and Others: CA 20 Nov 2015

The Secretary of State appealed against a ruling that section 1 of the 2014 Act was inconsistent wih European law.
Held: The following questions were referred to the CJEU:
(1) Did the CJEU in Digital Rights Ireland intend to lay down mandatory requirements of EU law with which the national legislation of Member States must comply?
(2) Did the CJEU in Digital Rights Ireland intend to expand the effect of Articles 7 and/or 8, EU Charter beyond the effect of Article 8 ECHR as established in the jurisprudence of the ECtHR?

Patten, Lloyd Jones, Vos LJJ
[2015] EWCA Civ 1185, [2016] HRLR 1
Bailii
Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 1, Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Directive 95/46/EC, Directive 2002/58/EC
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Davis and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for The Home Department and Others Admn 17-Jul-2015
The applicants said that section 1 of the 2014 Act was unlawful in that it went against decisions of the European Court.
Held: Section 1 was indeed inconsistent with European Union Law. Section 1, of the Act should be disapplied: (1) insofar . .
Cited – British Telecommunications Plc and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Admn 20-Apr-2011
The claimant sought judicial review of legislative provisions requiring Internet Service Providers to become involved in regulation of copyright infringements by its subscribers. They asserted that the Act and proposed Order were contrary to . .
Cited – British Telecommunications Plc, Regina (on The Application of) v BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Ltd and Others CA 6-Mar-2012
Appeal against an order made by Kenneth Parker J in judicial review proceedings relating to the compatibility of the online infringement of copyright provisions . .
Cited – Ireland v Parliament and Council ECJ 10-Feb-2009
ECJ (Approximation of laws) Action for annulment – Directive 2006/24/EC – Retention of data generated or processed in connection with the provision of electronic communications services – Choice of legal basis . .
Cited – Klass And Others v Germany ECHR 6-Sep-1978
(Plenary Court) The claimant objected to the disclosure by the police of matters revealed during their investigation, but in this case, it was held, disclosure even after the event ‘might well jeopardise the long-term purpose that originally . .
Cited – Rotaru v Romania ECHR 4-May-2000
Grand Chamber – The applicant, a lawyer, complained of a violation of his right to respect for his private life on account of the use against him by the Romanian Intelligence Service of a file which contained information about his conviction for . .
Cited – Kennedy v United Kingdom ECHR 18-May-2010
The claimant complained that after alleging unlawful interception of his communications, the hearing before the Investigatory Powers Tribunal was not attended by appropriate safeguards. He had been a campaigner against police abuse. His requests to . .
Cited – Telegraaf Media Nederland Landelijke Media Bv And Others v The Netherlands ECHR 22-Nov-2012
The ECtHR considered that, in cases of the targeted surveillance of journalists in order to discover their sources, prior review by an independent body with the power to prevent or terminate it was necessary. The point that the confidentiality of . .

Cited by:
Reference – Secretary of State for The Home Department v Watson MP and Others CA 30-Jan-2018
Consideration of case after reference to ECJ.Held: it is appropriate to grant declaratory relief, limited to the context of the prevention, investigation, detection and prosecution of criminal offences, to the effect that DRIPA was inconsistent with . .
Reference from – Tele2 Sverige v Post-och telestyrelsen,
and Secretary of State for the Home Department ECJ 21-Dec-2016
ECJ Judgment – Reference for a preliminary ruling – Electronic communications – Processing of personal data – Confidentiality of electronic communications – Protection – Directive 2002/58/EC – Articles 5, 6 and 9 . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

European, Information, Human Rights

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.554785

Norwich Pharmacal Co and others v Customs and Excise Commissioners: HL 26 Jun 1973

Innocent third Party May still have duty to assist

The plaintiffs sought discovery from the defendants of documents received by them innocently in the exercise of their statutory functions. They sought to identify people who had been importing drugs unlawfully manufactured in breach of their patents.
Held: Disclosure should be ordered. If someone, even innocently became involved in tortious acts committed by third parties, he became under a duty assist in discovery of the identity of the third party wrongdoers. How the information was acquired was not relevant. Duties of confidence owed by taxation authorities could be overborne if necessary.
Lord Reid said: ‘So discovery to find the identity of a wrongdoer is available against anyone against whom the plaintiff has a cause of action in relation to the same wrong. It is not available against a person who has no other connection with the wrong than that he was a spectator or has some document relating to it in his possession. But the respondents are in an intermediate position. Their conduct was entirely innocent; it was in execution of their statutory duty. But without certain action on their part the infringements could never have been committed. Does this involvement in the matter make a difference?’ to which he answered ‘Yes’.
Referring to the authorities, he said: ‘They seem to me to point to a very reasonable principle that if through no fault of his own a person gets mixed up in the tortious acts of others so as to facilitate their wrongdoing he may incur no personal liability but he comes under a duty to assist the person who has been wronged by giving him full information and disclosing the identity of the wrongdoers. I do not think that it matters whether he became so mixed up by voluntary action on his part or because it was his duty to do what he did. It may be that if this causes him expense the person seeking the information ought to reimburse him. But justice requires that he should co-operate in righting the wrong if he unwittingly facilitated its perpetration.
I am the more inclined to reach this result because it is clear that if the person mixed up in the affair has to any extent incurred any liability to the person wronged, he must make full disclosure even though the person wronged has no intention of proceeding against him. It would I think be quite illogical to make his obligation to disclose the identity of the real offenders depend on whether or not he has himself incurred some minor liability. I would therefore hold that the respondents must disclose the information now sought unless there is some consideration of public policy which prevents that.’
Lord Kilbrandon: ‘There is no suggestion that in so doing he is pretending to exercise any right of relief against the discoverers.
In my opinion, accordingly, the respondents, in consequence of the relationship in which they stand, arising out of their statutory functions, to the goods imported, can properly be ordered by the court to disclose to the appellants the names of persons whom the appellants bona fide believe to be infringing these rights, this being their only practicable source of information as to whom they should sue, subject to any special right of exception which the respondents may qualify in respect of their position as a department of state. It has to be conceded that there is no direct precedent for the granting of such an application in the precise circumstances of this case, but such an exercise of the power of the court seems to be well within broad principles authoritatively laid down. That exercise will always be subject to judicial discretion, and it may well be that the reason for the limitation in practice on what may be a wider power to order discovery, to any case in which the defendant has been ‘mixed up with the transaction’, to use Lord Romilly’s words, or ‘stands in some relation’ to the goods, within the meaning of the decision in Post v Toledo, Cincinnati and St Louis Railroad Co (1887) 11 NERep 540, is that that is the way in which judicial discretion ought to be exercised.’
Viscount Dilhorne referred to the antiquity of the mere witness rule and considered the principle of whether disclosure could be ordered in the case before him: ‘discovery can be granted against a person who is not a mere witness to discover, the fact of some wrongdoing being established, who was responsible for it. The ‘mere witness’ rule has lost a great deal of its importance since the Common Law Procedure Act removed the bar to persons interested giving evidence, but it still has significance. Someone involved in the transaction is not a mere witness. If he could be sued, even though there be no intention of suing him, he is not a mere witness . . Are the respondents to be regarded as so involved in this case? I think the answer is yes.’

Lord Reid, Lord Morris of Borth-y-Gest, Viscount Dilhorne, Lord Cross of Chelsea and Lord Kilbrandon
[1974] AC 133, [1973] 3 WLR 164, [1973] 2 All ER 943, [1973] UKHL 6, [1974] RPC 101, [1973] FSR 365
lip, Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Applied – Post v Toledo, Cincinnati and St Louis Railroad Co 1887
Powers of discovery where third party is involved in some way in the matters underlying the issue. . .
Applied – Orr v Diaper 1876
The plaintiff had a cause of action against the defendant and sought discovery of the name of a third party known to the defendant so that that third party could be joined in. ‘In this case the Plaintiffs do not know, and cannot discover, who the . .
Applied – Upmann v Elkan CA 5-Jun-1871
The defendant freight forwarding agent was innocently in possession of consignments of counterfeit cigars in transit to Germany through a London dock. The action was not for discovery, but for an order restraining the forwarder from releasing the . .
At First Instance – Norwich Pharmacal Co and others v Customs and Excise Commissioners ChD 1972
The court considered an application for an order that the other party identify third party wrong-doers. . .
Appeal from (reversed) – Norwich Pharmacal Co and others v Customs and Excise Commissioners CA 2-Jan-1972
The plaintiffs sought discovery of the names of patent infringers from the defendant third party, submitting that by analogy with trade mark and passing-off cases, the Customs could be ordered to give discovery of the names.
Held: Buckley LJ . .

Cited by:
Cited – Camelot Group plc v Centaur Communications Limited CA 23-Oct-1997
An order for a journalist to disclose the name of an employee disclosing his employer’s information, may be made where there was a need to identify a disloyal employee. Here drafts of accounts had been released to embarrass the company. The . .
Cited – Totalise Plc v The Motley Fool Limited and Interative Investor Limited (2) CA 19-Dec-2001
The respondent operated a web site which contained a chat room. Defamatory remarks were made by a third party through the chat room, and the claimant sought details of the identity of the poster. The respondent refused to do so without a court . .
Cited – Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd v National Westminster Bank plc and Others ChD 6-Feb-2002
Where an innocent party had been joined in an action in order to ensure proper discovery, he should be excused from the action once he had complied with the discovery required. It would be wrong to continue his involvement against an unsupported . .
Cited – Financial Times Ltd and others v Interbrew SA CA 8-Mar-2002
The appellants appealed against orders for delivery up of papers belonging to the claimant. The paper was a market sensitive report which had been stolen and doctored before being handed to the appellant.
Held: The Ashworth Hospital case . .
Applied – Ashworth Security Hospital v MGN Limited HL 27-Jun-2002
Order for Journalist to Disclose Sources
The newspaper published details of the medical records of Ian Brady, a prisoner and patient of the applicant. The applicant sought an order requiring the defendant newspaper to disclose the identity of the source of material which appeared to have . .
Cited – Arsenal Football Club plc and Others v Elte Sports Distribution Ltd ChD 10-Dec-2002
The claimant alleged that the respondent had unlawfully made use of photographs of its footballers in a calendar. The respondent asked the court to strike out the claim as merely speculative, and the claimant sought pre-action disclosure.
Cited – British Steel Corporation v Granada Television Ltd HL 7-May-1980
The defendant had broadcast a TV programme using material confidential to the plaintiff, who now sought disclosure of the identity of the presumed thief.
Held: (Lord Salmon dissenting) The courts have never recognised a public interest right . .
Followed – Loose v Williamson 1978
. .
Followed – RCA Corporation v Reddingtons Rare Records 1974
Interlocutory relief on the basis of the Norwich Pharmacal principle could be ordered, for example, on motion. . .
Cited – British Steel Corporation v Granada Television Ltd CA 7-May-1980
Lord Denning MR said that the Norwich Pharmacal case opened ‘a new chapter in our law’ and ‘Mr Irvine suggested this was limited to cases where the injured person desired to sue the wrongdoer. I see no reason why it should be so limited. The same . .
Cited – P v T Limited 1997
The jurisdiction under Norwich Pharmacal is not confined to circumstances where there has been tortious wrongdoing and is now available where there has been contractual wrongdoing. . .
Cited – Carlton Film Distributors Ltd v VCI Plc 2003
. .
Cited – Mitsui and Co Ltd v Nexen Petroleum UK Ltd ChD 29-Apr-2005
Mitsui sought disclosure of documents from a third party under the rules in Norwich Pharmacal.
Held: Such relief was available ‘where the claimant requires the disclosure of crucial information in order to be able to bring its claim or where . .
Cited – CHC Software Care v Hopkins and Wood 1993
The jurisdiction to require discovery of documents from a third party is not restricted to seeking information from an innocent third party. The third party may himself be one of the wrongdoers. . .
Cited – Aoot Kalmneft v Denton Wilde Sapte (A Firm) Merc 29-Oct-2001
The court ordered relief by way of disclosure against a third party: ‘In Norwich Pharmacal the information required was the identity of the wrongdoer (the applicant knew what wrong had been done but not who had done it) but I see no reason why the . .
Cited – Mersey Care NHS Trust v Ackroyd QBD 7-Feb-2006
The trust, operators of Ashworth Secure Hospital sought from the defendant journalist disclosure of the name of their employee who had revealed to the defendant matters about the holding of Ian Brady, the Moors Murderer, and in particular medical . .
Cited – Microsoft Corporation v Ling and others ChD 3-Jul-2006
The claimant sought damages against the respondent for various infringements in sales of unlicensed products, and also additional damages. The defendant argued that Microsoft’s licensing arrangements acted anti-competively.
Held: ‘the . .
Cited – Hughes v Carratu International Plc QBD 19-Jul-2006
The claimant wished to bring an action against the defendant enquiry agent, saying that it had obtained unlawful access to details of his bank accounts, and now sought disclosure of documents. The defendant denied wrongdoing, and said it had . .
Cited – Mersey Care NHS Trust v Ackroyd CA 21-Feb-2007
The defendant journalist had published confidential material obtained from the claimant’s secure hospital at Ashworth. The hospital now appealed against the refusal of an order for him to to disclose his source.
Held: The appeal failed. Given . .
Cited – Dobson and Dobson v North Tyneside Health Authority and Newcastle Health Authority CA 26-Jun-1996
A post mortem had been carried out by the defendants. The claimants, her grandmother and child sought damages after it was discovered that not all body parts had been returned for burial, some being retained instead for medical research. They now . .
Cited – Sheffield Wednesday Football Club Ltd and others v Hargreaves QBD 18-Oct-2007
The defendant operated a web forum in which posters posted defamatory messages about the claimants. The claimants sought an order disclosing the contact details of the members of the forum. The owner of the forum said he had undertaken not to . .
Cited – Smith v ADVFN Plc QBD 13-Mar-2008
Order re case management application. The claimant said he had been defamed on an internet forum run by the defendants, and sought orders for disclosure of the identities of the posters to the website. The operator said that special software might . .
Cited – Smith v ADVFN Plc CA 15-Apr-2008
The claimant complained of defamation on internet bulletin boards. He made an application to require the forum operator to disclose IP addresses and other information about posters under a Norwich Pharmacal order. Further applications were made for . .
Cited – Smith v ADVFN Plc and others QBD 25-Jul-2008
The claimant had brought multiple actions in defamation against anonymous posters on an online forum. The claimant sought to lift the stay which had been imposed because of the number of actions. The claimant had not yet paid outstanding costs . .
Cited – Mohamed, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (No 1) Admn 21-Aug-2008
The claimant had been detained by the US in Guantanamo Bay suspected of terrorist involvement. He sought to support his defence documents from the respondent which showed that the evidence to be relied on in the US courts had been obtained by . .
Cited – Banker’s Trust v Shapira CA 1980
Enforcement through innocent third party bank
Two forged cheques, each for USD500,000, had been presented by two men and as a result USD1,000,000 had been transferred to accounts in their names. The plaintiff sought to trace assets through the banks involved.
Held: The court approved the . .
Cited – Arab Monetary Fund v Hashim and On (No.5) 1992
The rule in Norwich Pharmacal does not provide a general right of discovery. Hoffman J cited Lord Reid in Norwich Pharmacal and said: ‘The reference to ‘full information’ has sometimes led to an assumption that any person who has become mixed up in . .
Cited – Mohamed, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (No 4) Admn 4-Feb-2009
In an earlier judgment, redactions had been made relating to reports by the US government of its treatment of the claimant when held by them at Guantanamo bay. The claimant said he had been tortured and sought the documents to support his defence of . .
Cited – Financial Times Ltd and Others v The United Kingdom ECHR 15-Dec-2009
The claimants said that an order that they deliver up documents leaked to them regarding a possible takeover violated their right to freedom of expression. They complained that such disclosure might lead to the identification of journalistic . .
Cited – United Company Rusal Plc and Others v HSBC Bank Plc and Others QBD 1-Mar-2011
The claimants sought an order for discovery here from a third party of documents required to support proposed litigation in Russia.
Held: Tugendhat J said: ‘the court [has] to be as satisfied as it can be, having regard to the limitations . .
Cited – The Rugby Football Union v Viagogo Ltd QBD 30-Mar-2011
The claimant objected to the resale through the defendant of tickets to matches held at the Twickenham Stadium. The tickets contained terms disallowing resales at prices over the face value. They sought orders for the disclosure of the names of the . .
Cited – The President of the State of Equatorial Guinea and Another v Bank of Scotland International PC 27-Feb-2006
(Guernsey) Lord Bingham said: ‘Norwich Pharmacal relief exists to assist those who have been wronged but do not know by whom. If they have straight forward and available means of finding out, then it will not be reasonable to achieve that end by . .
Cited – Media Cat Ltd v Adams and Others PCC 18-Apr-2011
The claimants had begun copyright infringement cases. Having been refused a request to be allowed to withdraw the cases as an abuse, their solicitors now faced an application for a wasted costs order.
Held: The court only has jurisdiction to . .
Cited – British Telecommunications Plc and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Admn 20-Apr-2011
The claimant sought judicial review of legislative provisions requiring Internet Service Providers to become involved in regulation of copyright infringements by its subscribers. They asserted that the Act and proposed Order were contrary to . .
Cited – The Rugby Football Union v Consolidated Information Services Ltd SC 21-Nov-2012
The Union challenged the right of the respondent to resell tickets to international rugby matches. The tickets were subject to a condition rendering it void on any resale at above face value. They said that the respondent had advertised tickets in . .
Cited – Various Claimants v News Group Newspapers Ltd and Others ChD 12-Jul-2013
The claimants sought disclosure by the police of information relating to the phone hacking activities said to have been conducted by journalists engaged by the first defendant newspaper. They were wanting to make claims against the respondent, but . .
Cited – Cartier International Ag and Others v British Telecommunications Plc and Another SC 13-Jun-2018
The respondent ISP companies had been injuncted to stop the transmission of websites which infringed the trade mark rights of the claimants. The ISPs now appealed from the element of the order that they pay the claimants’ costs of implementing the . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Litigation Practice, Information, Customs and Excise

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.174124

Wood v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis: Admn 22 May 2008

The claimant challenged the right of police officers to take his photograph as he attended an annual general meeting of Reed Elsevier Plc. He was a campaigner against the arms trade, but had always acted lawfully. The company noted the purchase of single shares by membersof the group and alerted the police. The defendant decided to deploy officers at the meeting. An associate was ejected from the meeting. They were photographed after and outside the meeting. The claimant said that he felt intimidated by the action. The court compared the actions with those of the Staasi, saying that it was at a lower level, but that ‘it is the development of such state activity against which one has to vigilant.’ However the taking of photographs in the street was not an infringement of his human rights and was not unlawful.

McCombe J
[2008] EWHC 1105 (Admin), Times 13-Jun-2008
Bailii
European Convention on Human Rights 8
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Murray v Big Pictures (UK) Ltd; Murray v Express Newspapers CA 7-May-2008
The claimant, a famous writer, complained on behalf of her infant son that he had been photographed in a public street with her, and that the photograph had later been published in a national newspaper. She appealed an order striking out her claim . .
Cited – X v United Kingdom ECHR 1972
The defendant had been convicted of knowingly living on the earnings of prostitution contrary to section 30(1) of the Sexual Offences Act 1956.
Held: The Commission rejected as manifestly ill-founded the applicant’s challenge to this provision . .
Cited – PG and JH v The United Kingdom ECHR 25-Sep-2001
The use of covert listening devices within a police station was an infringement of the right to privacy, since there was no system of law regulating such practices. That need not affect the right to a fair trial. The prosecution had a duty to . .
Cited – Ash and Another v McKennitt and others CA 14-Dec-2006
The claimant was a celebrated Canadian folk musician. The defendant, a former friend, published a story of their close friendship. The claimant said the relationship had been private, and publication infringed her privacy rights, and she obtained an . .
Cited – Gillan, Regina (on the Application of) v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis and Another HL 8-Mar-2006
The defendants said that the stop and search powers granted under the 2000 Act were too wide, and infringed their human rights. Each had been stopped when innocently attending demonstrations in London, and had been effectively detained for about . .
Cited – Friedl v Austria ECHR 31-Jan-1995
The Commission distinguished between the taking and keeping of photographs without identifying the subjects, and police questioning in order to establish identity and the recording of these personal data; the former was not an interference with . .
Cited – Von Hannover v Germany ECHR 24-Jun-2004
Princess Caroline of Monaco who had, at some time, received considerable attention in the media throughout Europe, complained at the publication of photographs taken of her withour her permission.
Held: There was no doubt that the publication . .
Cited – Perry v The United Kingdom ECHR 17-Jul-2003
Hudoc Judgment (Merits and just satisfaction) Violation of Art. 8 ; Non-pecuniary damage – financial award
The claimant had been arrested, then released to attend an identification parade. Several attempts . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Information, Police, Human Rights

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.267981

APW v WPA: QBD 8 Nov 2012

The claimant sought orders restricting publication by or on behalf of the defendant of confidential matters concerning their relationship. The defendant had refused to offer undertakings, saying that he had had no iintention to make any such disclosure. She also accused him of stalking her. He had continued to send text messages after being asked not to.
Held: Though the messages may have caused distress, and it was arguable that harassment had occurred, the coincidence of turing up at restaurants at the same time as her was not harassment: ‘Where a couple have broken up, one party to the relationship cannot complain that the other party simply goes to restaurants or other public places where the first one is, or may be, present, but then leaves immediately when requested to do so.’
Any further repetition of the text messages or similar would run a very clear risk of constituting harassment for which the claimant might receive damages. That was a sufficient remedy in this case.

Tugendhat J
[2012] EWHC 3151 (QB)
Bailii
Protection from Harassment Act 1997
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Thomas v News Group Newspapers Ltd and Simon Hughes CA 18-Jul-2001
A civilian police worker had reported officers for racist remarks. The newspaper repeatedly printed articles and encouraged correspondence which was racially motivated, to the acute distress of the complainant.
Held: Repeated newspaper stories . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Media, Information, Torts – Other

Leading Case

Updated: 31 October 2021; Ref: scu.465688

Information Commissioner v Dransfield: UTAA 28 Jan 2013

UTAA Tribunal procedure and practice (including UT) – statements of reasons – The public authority was entitled to rely on section 14(1) and to conclude that the request dated 29 May 2010 was vexatious within the meaning of FOIA. The Decision Notice stands.
Wikely UTJ said: The common theme underpinning section 14(1), at least insofar as it applies on the basis of a past course of dealings between the public authority and a particular requester, has been identified by Judge Jacobs as being a lack of proportionality (in his refusal of permission to appeal in Wise v Information Commissioner GIA/1871/2011 . . This issue was also identified by the recent FTT in Lee v Information Commissioner and King’s College Cambridge at as a relevant consideration . . I agree with the overall conclusion that the FTT in Lee reached, namely that ‘vexatious’ connotes ‘manifestly unjustified, inappropriate or improper use of a formal procedure’ (at [69]).’ Judge Wikely went on to identify four questions which he suggested might help those considering whether or not a request was truly vexatious:
i. How great a burden did the request impose on the public authority and its staff?
ii. What was the requester’s motive?
iii. Did the request have value or a serious purpose?
iv. Was there any evidence of the requester harassing staff members or causing them distress?
However, the Judge also made it clear that those considerations were not intended to be exhaustive and that they should not be treated as a formulaic check-list.

Wikely UTJ
[2012] UKUT 440 (AAC), [2013] 1Info LR 360
Bailii
Freedom of Information Act 2000 14(1)(a)
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Woolley v Information Commissioner FTTGRC 25-Nov-2013
. .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Information

Leading Case

Updated: 31 October 2021; Ref: scu.471138

TLT and Others v The Secretary of State for The Home Department and Another: QBD 24 Jun 2016

Damages for Publication of Asylum Applicants Data

The claimants had been part of the family returns process, returning failed asylum seekers to their countries of origin. The defendant collected data about the process and published a spreadsheet which was intended to provide an anonymous summary of the process, but in fact also contained many private details about the claimants.
Held: The court found that the various defendants were living difficult lives and were variously subject to fear stress and shock. Damages were awarded at between 2500 and 6000 pounds.

Mitting J
[2016] EWHC 2217 (QB)
Bailii
Data Protection Act 1998 13
England and Wales
Citing:
Applied – Google Inc v Vidal-Hall and Others CA 27-Mar-2015
Damages for breach of Data Protection
The claimants sought damages alleging that Google had, without their consent, collected personal data about them, which was resold to advertisers. They used the Safari Internet browser on Apple products. The tracking and collation of the claimants’ . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Information, Damages

Updated: 31 October 2021; Ref: scu.570720

Council of The European Union v Access Info Europe: ECJ 16 May 2013

ECJ Opinion – Appeal – Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 – Right of access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents – Council acting in its ‘legislative capacity’ – Note by the General Secretariat of the Council concerning proposals put forward in connection with the amendment of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 itself – Refusal to grant access to information relating to the identity of the Member States submitting proposals
Cruz Villalon AG
C-280/11, [2013] EUECJ C-280/11
Bailii
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001
European
Cited by:
Opinion – Council of The European Union v Access Info Europe ECJ 17-Oct-2013
ECJ Appeal – Right of access to documents of the institutions – Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 – Article 4(3), first subparagraph – Protection of the institutions’ decision-making process – Note from the Council . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 30 October 2021; Ref: scu.509295

West Yorkshire Police (Police and Criminal Justice ): ICO 9 Apr 2015

ICO The complainant submitted a request for information on 10 November 2014. The complaint was clarified on 17 November 2014. West Yorkshire Police responded on 19 February 2015.The Commissioner’s decision is that West Yorkshire Police has breached sections 1(3) (clarification of a request) and 10(1) (time for compliance) of FOIA. The Commissioner does not require West Yorkshire Police to take any further steps.
FOI 1: Not upheld
[2015] UKICO FS50565582
Bailii
England and Wales

Updated: 26 October 2021; Ref: scu.555363

Surender Singh and Police Service of Scotland: SIC 5 Feb 2014

On 25 March 2013, Mr Singh asked the Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police (the Police) about incidences of parental abduction and whether the parents who had been charged with abducting their own children were from ethnic minorities. Mr Singh made a further request on 23 April 2013, this time asking whether the parents who had been charged had parental responsibility or whether they had left the UK with their child. In both cases, the Police withheld the information.
Following an investigation, the Commissioner found that the Police had been entitled to withhold the information: it was held for the purposes of a criminal investigation and, on balance, the public interest lay in maintaining the exemption.
[2014] ScotIC 016 – 2014
Bailii
Scotland

Updated: 26 October 2021; Ref: scu.522737

West Yorkshire Police (Police and Criminal Justice): ICO 25 Apr 2018

The complainant has requested information about a review he believes is being carried out into the Yorkshire Ripper case. West Yorkshire Police would neither confirm nor deny holding information by virtue of section 30(3) (Investigations and proceedings) of the FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that West Yorkshire Police was entitled to rely on section 30(3) of the FOIA to neither confirm nor deny holding the information.
FOI 30: Complaint not upheld
[2018] UKICO fs50714831
Bailii
England and Wales

Updated: 26 October 2021; Ref: scu.617768

West Yorkshire Police (Police and Criminal Justice): ICO 5 Mar 2018

The complainant has requested a copy of a report into the escape from custody in the 1980s of someone he believes was a police informant. West Yorkshire Police refused to confirm or deny whether it held the requested information, citing the exemption at section 30(3) (investigations and proceedings) of the FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that West Yorkshire Police was entitled by section 30(3) of the FOIA to refuse to confirm or deny whether it held the requested information.
FOI 30: Complaint not upheld
[2018] UKICO fs50711644
Bailii
England and Wales

Updated: 26 October 2021; Ref: scu.617696