Confidentiality, Costs and Mediation – Garden Court Chambers

‘That mediation proceedings are confidential is taken as axiomatic. What is said and done in the course of a mediation remains there. The same goes for documents of whatever kind, and their contents, created for the purposes of the mediation. In the above case Master Howarth appears to have qualified these propositions to some extent.’

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Garden Court Chambers, 31st January 2017

Source: www.gardencourtmediation.co.uk

Lawyers sue to discover extent of information obtained by “corporate spy” – Legal Futures

Posted February 20th, 2017 in asbestos, confidentiality, legal profession, news, spying by sally

‘A solicitor and barrister who act for an anti-asbestos campaign are in a legal battle over what confidential and privileged information was passed on by a supposed TV documentary maker who was actually placed in the campaign to spy on its activities.’

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Legal Futures, 20th February 2017

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Court of Appeal upholds injunction stopping Dechert from acting for two parties to case – Litigation Futures

‘The Court of Appeal has upheld an injunction that international law firm Dechert has to cease acting for the principal creditor of a Russian businessman because it is also acting for his trustees in bankruptcy and has access to thousands of documents that are covered by legal professional privilege.’

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Litigation Futures, 21st November 2016

Source: www.litigationfutures.co.uk

Preservation of Evidence and Misconduct During Employment: Is the Law Right? – Littleton Chambers

Posted November 9th, 2016 in confidentiality, disclosure, documents, employment, news, wrongful dismissal by sally

‘An employee believes that the working relationship with her employer is breaking down. She anticipates future disputes about a bonus, and any imminent future termination. Wanting to ensure that she has key documents available in case she needs to seek advice or prove a future claim, she emails some of them – including confidential documents – to a hotmail account. Has she done anything wrong?’

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Littleton Chambers, 4th October 2016

Source: www.littletonchambers.com

Negotiating in the Shadow of the Court: Mediation in parallel with litigation – Family Law Week

‘Madeleine Reardon, barrister of 1 King’s Bench Walk, considers the role of mediation in the course of family proceedings, practical issues arising therefrom and, in particular, confidentiality of the mediation process.’

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Family Law Week, 27th October 2016

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Whose Article 10 rights – the journalist or the confidential source? – Panopticon

Posted October 26th, 2016 in appeals, confidentiality, disclosure, human rights, media, news, police by sally

‘Does a media corporation breach a source’s article 10 rights by voluntarily disclosing their identity to the police? Is source confidentiality lost by criminal conduct? These are the questions that the Court of Appeal had to grapple with in the appeal against conviction brought by former prison officer Robert Norman.’

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Panopticon, 24th October 2016

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

HMRC press briefing in film tax case breached confidentiality duty, says Supreme Court – OUT-LAW.com

”Off the record’ comments made by former HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) permanent secretary for tax Dave Hartnett to journalists at The Times in 2012 breached the duty of confidentiality owed to taxpayers by the department, the UK’s highest court has ruled.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 20th October 2016

Source: www.out-law.com

Standards watchdog urges regulators to manage ‘revolving door’ properly – Local Government Lawyer

Posted September 23rd, 2016 in codes of practice, confidentiality, conflict of interest, news, standards by sally

‘Fewer than a third of regulatory bodies have policies to deal with ‘revolving door’ issues where staff move between the organisation and the entities or profession it regulates, a report by the Committee on Standards in Public Life has revealed.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 21st September 2016

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Everything You Need To Know About Secrecy In The Family Courts – RightsInfo

‘One of the central principles of the family justice system has long been ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of the families involved. Families going through divorces, child custody proceedings or cases involving child abuse have typically had their identities and the details of their cases protected. But over recent years there has been a rising perception that the family courts are secretive and unaccountable – sparking calls for increased transparency, and raising important questions for human rights.’

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Rightsinfo, 27th July 2016

Source: www.rightsinfo.org

High Court’s confidentiality comments could have unintended consequences in pension rectification cases – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 9th, 2016 in confidentiality, news, rectification, trusts by sally

‘Comments by a High Court judge during a recent application for rectification of a pension trust deed could have “unintended consequences” for future applications, an expert has said.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 9th June 2016

Source: www.out-law.com

‘Reasonable’ costs bill halved under proportionality test – Law Society’s Gazette

‘The senior costs judge has slashed a claimant’s costs bill in a high-profile media case because of the proportionality tests brought in by the Jackson reforms – despite deeming it to be ‘reasonable and necessary’.’

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Law Society’s Gazette, 6th June 2016

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Regina v AXN; Regina v ZAR – WLR Daily

Regina v AXN; Regina v ZAR [2016] EWCA Crim 590

‘Where an offender convicted of a crime has rendered assistance to the police or other law enforcement authorities, the police may provide the court with information regarding the assistance rendered in a confidential letter signed by a senior police officer, known as a “text”, but the obligation of the police to provide a text when requested by the offender is a very limited one. Although the court will always expect the police to inform the court of the fact that the police have made a decision not to provide a text as matter of case management, it is sufficient if the police merely state that they will not provide any information to the court in relation to the offender’s assertions of assistance. The police are not required to give any explanation of their reasons for the decision, or the stage at which they decided not to provide any information. The police need do no more than say that the police will not provide any information to the court. Such a statement to the court can generally be provided by letter and not by text. There may unusually be circumstances where the police would have to reveal in the reply the assertions of the offender that he had provided assistance; in such a case it might therefore be necessary to provide the response in the form of a text. Whether it is provided by letter or text, it must be signed by a senior officer of police (normally a superintendent) or an equivalent senior official in other law enforcement agencies (paras 6, 18, 22).’

WLR Daily, 27th May 2016

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Examining the effectiveness of celebrity injunctions – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

‘Is the Supreme Court’s decision in PJS v NGN [2016] UKSC 26, [2016] All ER (D) 135 (May), as Lord Toulson suggests, out of touch with reality? Sara Mansoori, barrister at Matrix Chambers, considers the wider consequences of the case and suggests that even when information is in the public domain, the law of privacy can prevent repetition of that information where such repetition can cause unwarranted distress.’

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Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 25th May 2016

Source: www.halsburyslawexhange.co.uk

Confidential Communication With Lawyers Is A Human Right, Even For Prisoners – RightsInfo

‘Part of being in prison is that your rights and freedom are restricted. But prisoners do retain some rights – this was re-confirmed by the highest UK court 15 years ago today.’

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RightsInfo, 23rd May 2016

Source: www.rightsinfo.org

The celebrity threesome case risks undermining the law – The Guardian

Perhaps for the first time – and almost certainly for the last, since he is about to retire – Lord Toulson is the hero of the press. As the sole dissenting judge in the Supreme Court ruling on the current celebrity injunction of speculation, he would have allowed the claimant’s name to be published – at least by news organisations that were prepared to run the risk of paying damages for breaching the claimant’s privacy.’

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The Guardian, 19th May 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Supreme court upholds ‘celebrity threesome’ injunction – The Guardian

Posted May 20th, 2016 in confidentiality, injunctions, media, news, privacy, public interest, Supreme Court by tracey

‘The supreme court has extended the interim privacy injunction preventing identification of a celebrity who has been involved in a three-way sexual encounter.’

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The Guardian, 19th May 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Parents of Matthew Green found in Spain after six years fight to see him – BBC News

Posted May 18th, 2016 in confidentiality, data protection, families, missing persons, news by tracey

‘The parents of a man found alive six years after he disappeared have said their joy turned to frustration after they were told they could not see him.’

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BBC News, 17th May 2016

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Bring your own device: managing the risks – Future of Law

Posted May 11th, 2016 in confidentiality, data protection, employment, human rights, news, privacy by sally

‘Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) – the practice of employees routinely using their personal laptops, mobiles and other internet connected devices for work – has become increasingly common over recent years, with one survey suggesting that BYOD has already been taken up by over half of UK workers. Using a single device at home and at work can pay dividends for both employees and employers in terms of convenience, increased efficiency and reduced cost. But there are also various risks that need to be managed, especially in the case of law firms which handle sensitive client data.’

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Future of Law, 9th May 2016

Source: www.blog.lexisnexis.co.uk

Vicarious liability for rogue employee’s data leak – Panopticon

‘Suppose confidential, private and sensitive information is sold, leaked or otherwise wrongly disclosed by a rogue employee: is the employer vicariously liable? This question is a troubling one for many an employer and data controller. A new judgment on a claim for misuse of private information sheds some light on this question – and will not be comforting for employers and data controllers. The case is Axon v Ministry of Defence [2016] EWHC 787 (QB).’

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Panopticon, 12th April 2016

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Covert Recording by Parents – Nothing to Fear but the Truth? – Family Law Week

‘Farooq Ahmed, barrister of Westgate Chambers and recorder, addresses the legal issues arising when parents embroiled in children proceedings record conversations or events.’

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Family Law Week, 8th April 2016

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk