As we all adjust to the strange new reality ushered in by the arrival of Covid-19, it is reassuring to see that the wheels of the justice system continue to turn, and at the highest levels. Today the Supreme Court has handed down its judgment in one of the most watched data protection and employment cases of recent years: Various Claimants v Morrisons. The judgment is a real watershed moment, and one that will doubtless bring considerable relief to employer data controllers across the land.
Substantial compliance just won’t do: Supreme Court on international data transfers under DPA Part 3
Foreign fighters. Law enforcement cooperation with the US. The death penalty. A seven judge bench in the Supreme Court. Despite showing all the signs of a landmark public law decision, Elgizouli v Secretary of the State for the Home Department [2020] UKSC 10 was a bit of a fizzer on that front. In the end, the real meat was in the DPA 2018’s regulation of law enforcement processing and international data transfers. Continue reading
Coronavirus and Information Law
This week has brought unprecedented disruption to the legal system, and the whole economy. The Panopticon team, and all of us at 11KBW, are working hard to ensure that we can continue to provide you with the level of service that you have come to expect. Meanwhile, here are some initial responses to the Coronavirus pandemic from an information law perspective. Continue reading
Icebergs Avoided: Navigating the s23 Case Law
Anyone who has had a FOIA case in the national security space will have faced the near-impossible task of trying to work out what on earth Corderoy & Ahmed v Information Commissioner & Attorney General & Cabinet Office [2017] UKUT 495 (AAC) means; a front-runner for most impenetrable Upper Tribunal decision on FOIA. Now Judge Markus QC has had a go at squaring the circle in Lownie v Information Commissioner & Foreign and Commonwealth Office & The National Archives [2020] UKUT 32 (AAC). Continue reading
Trust(s) in the DPA: Dawson-Damer (Part the Fourth)
Some long-running litigation is the gift that keeps on giving. Some is Dawson-Damer v Taylor Wessing LLP [2020] EWCA Civ 352, back to the Court of Appeal for the second time and very much a case of diminishing returns. Unless you are a trusts lawyer, particularly in the Bahamas, or fascinated by filing systems. And who isn’t one of those things? Continue reading
Section 166 DPA 2018: Leighton off the ICO?
Relatively unnoticed in the morass of GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 provisions is the right under section 166 DPA 2018 to apply to the First-tier Tribunal for an order that the ICO progress a complaint which has been made to it under section 165 or Article 77 GDPR. In other words, the core aim of the provision is to deal with situations in which the ICO has taken too long to address a complaint made about, for example, compliance with a subject access request. But what is the nature of the FTT’s role? Continue reading