Kennedy (Appellant) v The Charity Commission (Respondent) – Supreme Court
Kennedy (Appellant) v The Charity Commission (Respondent) [2014] UKSC 20 (YouTube)
Supreme Court, 26th March 2014
Kennedy (Appellant) v The Charity Commission (Respondent) [2014] UKSC 20 (YouTube)
Supreme Court, 26th March 2014
‘The Freedom of Information Act 2000 did not provide an exhaustive scheme in respect of the disclosure of information held by the Charity Commission relating to inquiries which they conducted. Although an absolute exemption under section 32(2) of that 2000 Act from disclosure under that Act lasted beyond the completion of such an inquiry, the question whether disclosure of information relating to such an inquiry was available would be governed by the Charities Act 1993, as substituted by the Charities Act 2006, construed in the light of common law principles.’
WLR Daily, 26th March 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘The Supreme Court’s much anticipated judgments in Kennedy v The Charity Commission make for a long read. But they are very important. All the parties in Kennedy were represented by Counsel from 11KBW: Andrew Sharland for Mr Kennedy; Karen Steyn and Rachel Kamm for the Charity Commission and the Secretary of State; Ben Hooper for the ICO; and Christopher Knight for the Media Legal Defence Initiative and Campaign for Freedom of Information.’
Panopticon, 28th March 2014
Source: www.panopticonblog.com
‘Kennedy v. Charity Commission et al, Supreme Court, 26 March 2014. In judgments running to 90 pages, the Supreme Court dismissed this appeal by Mr Kennedy, a Times journalist, for access to documents generated by the Charity Commission under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 concerning three inquiries between 2003 and 2005 into the Mariam Appeal. This appeal was George Galloway’s response to the sanctions imposed on Iraq following the first Gulf War, and little Mariam was a leukaemia sufferer. Mr Kennedy’s suspicion, amongst others, was that charitable funds had been used by Galloway for political campaigning.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 26th March 2014
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘An application for permission to appeal against a conviction on grounds of previous incompetent representation by solicitors or counsel should not be made without taking proper steps to inquire whether there was a cogent objective basis for the proposed ground of appeal. It was impermissible to rely alone on the word of the defendant.’
WLR Daily, 19th March 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘Children separated from their parents in secret family court judgments must be able to find out the reasons for the court’s decisions when they grow up, the most senior family judge has said. Sir James Munby, the President of the Family Division, said it was “great concern” that the judgments of all family court judges were not routinely transcribed and published.’
Daily Telegraph, 18th May 2014
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘R (on the application of British Sky Broadcasting Limited) (Respondent) v The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (Appellant) [2014] UKSC 17. This was an appeal from a ruling by the Administrative Court that it was procedurally unfair, and therefore unlawful, for BSkyB to have had a disclosure order made against it without full access to the evidence on which the police’s case was based and the opportunity to comment on or challenge that evidence.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 13th March 2014
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘On the hearing of an application by a police officer for a production order under section 9 of, and Schedule 1 to, the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, seeking access to journalistic material held by a news organisation for the purposes of an investigation into an alleged offence, the court could not have regard to evidence adduced by the police in support of the application which had not been disclosed to the news organisation.’
WLR Daily, 12th March 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Regina (Evans) v Attorney General; [2014] EWCA Civ 254; [2014] WLR (D) 124
‘The issue of a certificate by the Attorney General, an accountable person under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, of a certificate under section 53(2) of the Act so as to override and render ineffective a decision of an independent and impartial tribunal required more than that he merely disagreed with the tribunal’s determination. Examples of what would suffice were that there had been a material change of circumstances since the tribunal’s decision or that it was clearly flawed in fact or in law.’
WLR Daily, 12th March 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘The High Court is this week hearing a judicial review that claimant lawyers hope will strike down the deeply unpopular policy of HM Revenue & Customs that means it will only release the employment history of a mesothelioma victim to their lawyer with a High Court order.’
Litigation futures, 12th March 2014
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘Reforms which will cut the amount of time some offenders need to disclose details of any low level convictions come into effect today, Justice Minister Simon Hughes.’
Ministry of Justice, 10th March 2014
Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice
‘The Government has today announced their long-awaited reforms to disclosure of previous convictions for rehabilitated offenders.’
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 10th March 2014
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
‘As part of a pan European project to cut down on alleged illicit money laundering through financial institutions and legally created entities such as companies, foundations and trusts, the European Union has launched its fourth anti-money laundering Directive.’
Six Pump Court, 7th March 2014
Source: www.6pumpcourt.co.uk
‘Women will be able to find out if their partners have an abusive past as the domestic violence disclosure scheme – known as Clare’s law – is rolled out across every police force across England and Wales.’
The Guardian, 8th March 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘In the second part of her article reviewing reporting restriction orders and the new transparency Mary Lazarus, barrister of 42 Bedford Row, considers those cases involving aggrieved parties and cases with international implications.’
Family Law Week, 4th March 2014
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk