Confidentiality – Panopticon

‘Two recent decisions of the FTT on confidential information are of interest, one under FoIA, the other under the EIR, with a local authority being the public authority in both cases.’

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Panopticon, 7th February 2019

Source: panopticonblog.com

Magic circle firm wins gagging order over ‘struggle with women in workplace’ – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted February 6th, 2019 in confidentiality, injunctions, law firms, news, public interest, women by tracey

‘Magic circle firm Linklaters has secured an order barring its former director of business development from giving interviews about what was described in court as an “ongoing struggle with women in the workplace”.

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Law Society's Gazette, 6th February 2019

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Protecting Community Protection Notices – UK Police Law Blog

‘A defendant cannot defend himself from prosecution for breach of a Community Protection Notice (‘CPN’), on the basis that the CPN is invalid. The reason, stated in Stannard v The Crown Prosecution Service [2019] EWHC 84 (Admin), is that there is an effective means to challenge the CPN – either by exercising the right of statutory appeal or by judicial review. Allowing a challenge to the validity of the CPN at trial is not what the relevant statute (the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, ‘the 2014 Act’) intends, nor is it an effective remedy because the person subject to a CPN should not be required to breach a CPN in order to exercise a right to challenge it.’

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UK Police Law Blog, 31st January 2019

Source: ukpolicelawblog.com

Minor offences may stay secret after legal challenge fails – The Guardian

‘Some people with minor, past convictions may not have to disclose them in future after the government lost a legal challenge aimed at preserving its system of criminal record checks.’

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The Guardian, 30th January 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Anonymisation Guidance – a curtain of secrecy? – Transparency Project

‘The President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew MacFarlane issued some guidance last week on the anonymisation of published judgments in family court cases.’

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Transparency Project, 10th December 2018

Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk

Case Comments: KO (Nigeria) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] UKSC 53 and Rhuppiah v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] UKSC 58 – UKSC Blog

‘ECHR, art 8 prevents someone from being removed from the UK where doing so would have a disproportionate impact on their private life and/or family life. Where a migrant seeks to rely on art 8, it is accordingly necessary for the Home Office, or on appeal the First-tier Tribunal, to conduct a balancing exercise between the individual’s private and family life rights on the one hand and the ‘public interest’ on the other.’

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UKSC Blog, 4th December 2018

Source: ukscblog.com

‘Sexting’ allegations made against teenage boy will remain on file until he is 100 – despite no conviction – Daily Telegraph

‘Allegations made against a teenage boy that he ‘sexted’ girls at his school could remain on his police file until he is 100 – even though he was never convicted of any offence. The boy, known only as CL, lost a High Court legal bid to force the police to delete the details of the case.’

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Daily Telegraph, 6th December 2018

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Judge appeals for funds to fight judiciary whistleblowing ruling – The Guardian

‘Claire Gilham wants judges to have legal protections for disclosures in public interest.’

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The Guardian, 12th November 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

Case Comment: KO (Nigeria) & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] UKSC 53 Part Two – UKSC Blog

‘(ii) Undue Harshness

Next, the court opined that the structure of s 117C was difficult to follow as it begins by asad-khanstressing that deporting foreign criminals is in the public interest; which increases with the seriousness of the offending. The unimpressive drafting led Lord Carnwath to observe that rather than expressly indicating “how or at what stage of the process those general rules are to be given effect,” s 117C is instead devoted to rules for two types of foreign criminals and two exceptions.’

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UKSC Blog, 9th November 2018

Source: ukscblog.com

Case Comment: KO (Nigeria) & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] UKSC 53 Part One – UKSC Blog

‘The Supreme Court unanimously dismissed these appeals. But thankfully Lord Carnwath’s meticulous judgment clarified wide-ranging misconceptions in the courts below regarding the correct interpretation of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (as amended), Part 5A, ss 117A to 117D. Centrally, s 117D(1) defines a “qualifying child” as someone under the age of 18 who is either a British citizen or has lived in the UK for a continuous period of seven years or more. Despite the controversial nature and history of these cases, Lord Carnwath’s short but robust judgment concentrates on simplicity because the novel statutory scheme aims “to produce a straightforward set of rules” on ECHR, art 8 and public interest considerations.’

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UKSC Blog, 9th November 2018

Source: ukscblog.com

Silencing of Sir Philip Green’s British accusers is ‘making a mockery of legal system’ – Daily Telegraph

‘Silencing Sir Philip Green’s alleged British victims while his former employees in America speak out on is “making a mockery” of the UK’s legal system, experts and MPs have said.’

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Daily Telegraph, 6th November 2018

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Robert Craig: The Peter Hain Case: The Effect of Article IX – UK Constitutional Law Association

‘Peter Hain’s decision to breach an interim injunction granted by the Court of Appeal in the case of ABC v Telegraph Media Group has caused serious concern. It is one of the cardinal rules in Parliament that members should not interfere in ongoing legal proceedings and Hain did not wait until the end of the proceedings before breaching this injunction, even though the case had been scheduled for an early full hearing. He does not appear even to have read the court judgment he saw fit to overrule, effectively.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 31st October 2018

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Stephen Tierney: Governing Northern Ireland without an Executive: Quick Fix or Constitutional Minefield? – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted October 31st, 2018 in bills, civil servants, constitutional law, news, Northern Ireland, public interest by sally

‘The Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Exercise of Functions) Bill, which arrives in the House of Lords today, is set to be enacted by way of fast-track legislative procedure this week. The Bill intends to facilitate the formation of an Executive in Northern Ireland while providing for the exercise of executive functions by civil servants in the interim. In effect, the Bill suspends the statutory duty on the Secretary of State to call a Northern Ireland Assembly election. This is little more than a continuation of the present situation in which the UK Government has kept administration in Northern Ireland ticking over since March 2017. Much more controversially, the Bill gives civil servants within Northern Ireland departments general powers for the administration of Northern Ireland, introducing a public interest test for the exercise of these powers.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 30th October 2018

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Philip Green and non-disclosure agreements: do we have a right to know? – UK Human Rights Blog

‘The circumstances in which a court should prevent the press from reporting information about famous people has long provoked debate. The decision of the Court of Appeal in ABC & Ors v Telegraph Media Group Ltd [2018] EWCA Civ 2329 is no exception, attracting extensive press coverage and comment from the #MeToo movement.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 30th October 2018

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Labour peer Peter Hain defends decision to expose Philip Green as businessman accused of sexual harassment – The Independent

‘Peter Hain has defended his decision to use parliamentary privilege to name Sir Philip Green as the businessman at the centre of a row over allegations of sexual harassment and racial abuse.’

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The Independent, 26th October 2018

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Reporting restrictions on Bethany’s dad – children’s rights or concealing system failure? – Transparency Project

‘On Saturday, the Times reported: ‘Father beats legal bid to silence him over autistic girl in hospital “cell” ‘ [paywall]. Social affairs editor, Greg Hirst, reported that Jeremy (who is not using his surname publicly) succeeded in contesting an application by Walsall Metropolitan County Borough Council for an injunction to stop his social media campaign that is drawing attention to the plight of his 17-year-old-daughter.’

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Transparency Project, 16th October 2018

Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk

Rejection of unaccompanied asylum seeking children unlawful for lack of reasons – Court of Appeal – UK Human Rights Blog

‘Help Refugees Ltd, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Secretary [2018] EWCA Civ 2098. This was an appeal by Help Refugees Ltd against the refusal of its application for judicial review of the secretary of state’s consultation process regarding the relocation of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children under Section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 4th October 2018

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Conveyancers liable for registration error despite mortgage fraud – Legal Futures

Posted September 14th, 2018 in conveyancing, fraud, mortgages, negligence, news, public interest by tracey

‘There is “no public interest” in allowing a negligent conveyancer to avoid liability when they did not know that their client was actually engaged in mortgage fraud, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’

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Legal Futures, 14th September 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

BBC calls on government to clarify privacy law – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted August 16th, 2018 in BBC, costs, freedom of expression, media, news, privacy, public interest by sally

‘The BBC today admitted that the way it reported the police raid on the home of Sir Cliff Richard will make it hard to persuade the Court of Appeal that the High Court was wrong to award the singer heavy damages last month for breach of privacy. Announcing that it will not seek leave to appeal the judgment in Sir Cliff Richard OBE v British Broadcasting Corporation the BBC called on the government to clarify the balance between the rights to privacy and free expression.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 15th August 2018

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Sir Cliff Richard privacy case: BBC will not go to Court of Appeal – BBC News

Posted August 16th, 2018 in appeals, BBC, freedom of expression, media, news, public interest by sally

‘The BBC will not challenge a ruling over its coverage of a police raid at Sir Cliff Richard’s home in 2014 at the Court of Appeal.’

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BBC News, 15th August 2018

Source: www.bbc.co.uk