It is often helpful for the appellate courts to give judgments which provide guidance to assist decision-makers and lower courts in applying the law to different, but similar, cases. After all, if the law is being decided by reference to applicable principles, those ought to be able to give guidance beyond the very specific facts of the case. It has, however, been a disappointingly regular feature of the Court of Appeal’s approach to FOIA and EIR generally to disapprove of such guidance as the Upper Tribunal has sought to provide (fair enough) and replace that guidance with nothing at all (less fair). Continue reading
Information Law Conference 2020
Our 2020 Information Law Conference brings together 11KBW’s market-leading specialists to provide updates on the law and practicalities relating to data protection, privacy and freedom of information.
Topics covered include;
- data breaches and the dynamics of civil litigation – group litigation and representative actions
- data breaches: what’s it worth? damages and penalties
- general privacy update: scope of the controller concept, subject access, privacy shield, etc
- the future of e-privacy and e-commerce
- privacy and the media: recent developments and trends
- FOIA/EIR update
- Privacy laws in a post-Brexit world?
What last year’s delegates said about the conference:
“A really informative, engaging day. The range of topics was excellent, as were the speakers.”
“Always excellent to hear speakers who know exactly what they are talking about”
“Excellent, best conference covering information law” Continue reading
Some you might have missed
By which we mean: some that we did miss blogging about. With apologies and better late than nevers, here’s a round-up of three recent(ish) cases worthy of note. In R (Open Rights Group) v SSHD digital campaigners Open Rights Group and The3million (campaigning on behalf of so many EU Citizens living in the UK) challenged the immigration exemption – one of the few new features in the DPA 2018 that strengthens the controller’s hand – as incompatible with fundamental charter rights to privacy and protection of personal data. They also contended that it was too broad, vague and lacking in the safeguards required by the parent Article 23 GDPR (which enables Member States to enact domestic exemptions). Continue reading
When “maybe” isn’t good enough: orders for production of journalistic material
The efforts of the Beeb in the Divisional Court have clarified the conditions to be satisfied before a Court can require journalistic material be produced in criminal cases.
When to assess the public interest in a FOIA request? Four years ago says Upper Tribunal in Maurizi
Heading off the FOIA equivalent of a zombie apocalpyse, the Upper Tribunal has driven a stake through the heart of the contention (long presumed dead) that the public interest in a FOIA request is to be assessed at a time other than when the public authority first refused the request.
Mean Ms Mustard (Or: covert recordings as admissible evidence)
Ms Mustard was injured in a road traffic accident, for which she claims compensation. She was examined by medical experts appointed by the insurer. She covertly recorded two of those consultations deliberately, and a third accidentally. She wants to deploy those recordings as evidence in support of her claim. The insurer objected, arguing that the recordings constituted unlawful processing contrary to the GDPR and the DPA 2018. Continue reading