JUSTICE, a law reform and human rights organisation, has today published a significant and wide-ranging critique of state surveillance powers contained in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA). The report - Freedom from Suspicion – Surveillance Reform for a Digital Age – is by Eric Metcalfe, former director of JUSTICE and recently returned to practise as [...]
Archive for the ‘Freedom of Information’ Category
Snooping councils, phone hacking, CCTV… time to reform surveillance laws?
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, Art. 8 | Right to Privacy/Family, Criminal, Freedom of Information, In the news, Politics / Public Order, Public/Private, Technology on November 4, 2011 | 5 Comments »
Times can use leaked Police documents in libel defence
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, Art. 8 | Right to Privacy/Family, Case law, Case summaries, Defamation / Libel, Freedom of Information, Police on October 25, 2011 |
Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis & Anor v Times Newspapers Ltd & Anor [2011] EWHC 2705 (QB) (24 October 2011) – Read judgment. Mr Justice Tugendhat has held that, with restrictions, The Times Newspapers Ltd (TNL) should be allowed to use information from leaked documents in its defence to a libel claim brought by [...]
More secret justice on the horizon
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, Criminal, Freedom of Information, In the news, Judges and Juries, Politics / Public Order, Secret justice, Terrorism, tagged secret justice on October 19, 2011 |
The Cabinet Office has released its long awaited (by this blog at least) Justice and Security Green Paper, addressing the difficult question of to what extent the state must reveal secret information in court proceedings. A consultation has been launched on the proposals; responses can be sent via email by Friday 6 January 2012. The [...]
Your honey with a dash of GM pollen: EU Court rules
Posted in Agriculture, Case comments, Environment, European, Freedom of Information on September 22, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Case C‑442/09 Bablok et al v. Freistaat Bayern, Monsanto intervening The result of this decision by the CJEU is summed up in a pithy summary by EU Business entitled “EU court backs angry honeymaker in GM pollen row.” The underlying question arose when food law met honey law (yes, there is one) met GMO licensing law, It was all about whether adventitious [...]
Is the Official Secrets Act about to be used to gag journalism? – Obiter J
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Criminal, Freedom of Information, In the news, Media, Police on September 18, 2011 | 7 Comments »
Updated |Nine years ago, in March 2002, Amanda “Milly” Dowler (aged 13) was on her way home from school. She was kidnapped and murdered and her body was found in September 2002. In June 2011, Levi Bellfield was convicted of her murder and sentenced to a “whole life” tariff. When Milly went missing, journalists of the News [...]
Some information on local sex offence teachers must be disclosed, rules tribunal
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Art. 8 | Right to Privacy/Family, Case comments, Criminal, Education, Freedom of Information on September 16, 2011 | 1 Comment »
In Colleen Smith v IC and Devon & Cornwall Constabulary (EA/2011/0006), the requester asked for information on the number of school teachers in specified towns who had been investigated, cautioned and charged under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 between January 2005 and November 2007. The Constabulary eventually relied on the personal data at section 40(2) of the [...]
Analysis – Camden Council must disclose list of empty properties to squatting campaigner
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Art. 8 | Right to Privacy/Family, BLOG POSTS, Case summaries, Freedom of Information, Housing on September 15, 2011 | 6 Comments »
Voyias v Information Commissioner and the London Borough of Camden EA/2011/0007 – Read Judgment The First Tier Tribunal has overturned a decision of the Information Commissioner and ordered Camden Council to provide information about empty properties in the borough to a former member of the Advisory Service for Squatters. When one thinks of the term [...]
Opening up the family courts – Lucy Series
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, Art. 8 | Right to Privacy/Family, Family, Freedom of Information, In the news, Media on September 14, 2011 | 5 Comments »
Last month the Ministry of Justice published a report of a pilot project that ran last year whereby participating family courts produced and published on Bailii written judgments of specified Children Act 1989 cases. The project had three main aims: to increase transparency and improve public understanding of the family justice system by publishing anonymised [...]
Freedom of expression: is filming the police in public a fundamental right? – Hugh Tomlinson QC
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Art. 8 | Right to Privacy/Family, Case summaries, Freedom of Information, In the news, Police on August 31, 2011 | 3 Comments »
As a number of recent cases have made clear, the filming of policing activity in public places is a vital method of holding police to account. But there have been continuing tensions between the police and photographers over filming police activity. In January 2010 there was a protest in Trafalgar Square by photographers against the use of terrorism laws to [...]
President of Family Division’s press release on paedophile allegations case
Posted in Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, Children, Family, Freedom of Information, In the news on August 25, 2011 | 12 Comments »
With thanks to the Judicial Press Office, below is the full press release from the President of the Family Division in a case involving a “super injunction”, John Hemming MP, false allegations of pedophilia and some poor press reporting. I will blog about this once the full rulings are released, but in the meantime see [...]
Anemometers, environmental information, and legal advice: the Planning Inspectorate’s duty to disclose?
Posted in Case law, Environment, European, Freedom of Information, In the news on August 25, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Case EA/2010/0204 Robinson v. Information Commissioner & Department for Communities & Local Government, First-Tier Tribunal, 19 July 2011 This interesting decision of the First-Tier Tribunal (not linked to this post, for reasons I shall explain below) goes to the circumstances in which a public authority can refuse under environmental information rules to disclose legal advice received by it. All lawyers [...]
Mobile masts and grid references get to Europe
Posted in Environment, European, Freedom of Information, In the news on July 29, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Case C-71/10 Ofcom v. Information Commissioner, Court of Justice of the European Union: Read judgment I posted previously on the Advocate-General’s opinion in March 2011, Office of Communications v. Information Commissioner, a reference from the UK Supreme Court. An epidemiologist working for the Scots NHS wanted the grid references of mobile phone masts. This was refused, [...]
Whose law is it anyway?
Posted in Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, Freedom of Information, In the news, Judges and Juries on July 26, 2011 | 1 Comment »
What is a “tort”? No, not a rich multilayered cake, but rather an “actionable wrong”. Tort law is also the means through which five Kenyans alleging they were mistreated in British detention camps in the 1950s may get damages. How do I know this? Because Mr Justice McCombe told me in a helpful summary of his judgment [...]
Hockeysticks: Climategate Unit told by Information Commissioner to produce weather data
Posted in Case comments, Environment, European, Freedom of Information, In the news on July 3, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Many will remember the batch of e-mails hacked in 2009 that caused delight in climate change sceptic circles (see this example from James Delingpole), and considerable embarrassment to UEA; some of it concerned the famous or infamous hockeystick graph (see below) showing temperature change over the last 1000 years. This environmental information case is the sequel. And, [...]
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Recommended- Assange v The Swedish Prosecution Authority [2012] UKSC 22 (30 May 2012) May 30, 2012Supreme Court rules by 5-2 majority that Julian Assange must be extradited to Sweden. Definition of "judicial authority" is a wide one.
- Supreme Court judgment: Assange v Swedish Judicial Authority - Carl Gardner May 30, 2012
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- Case law
- Assange v The Swedish Prosecution Authority [2012] UKSC 22 (30 May 2012) May 30, 2012Supreme Court rules by 5-2 majority that Julian Assange must be extradited to Sweden. Definition of "judicial authority" is a wide one.
- SCOPPOLA v. ITALY (No. 3) - 126/05 [2012] ECHR 868 (22 May 2012) May 23, 2012ECtHR Grand Chamber: automatic and indiscriminate disenfranchisement of prisoners unlawful but up to individual states how to implement changes were such a ban exist
- Dishonesty in entry clearance applications May 21, 2012An Upper Tribunal (UT) decision confirms that, where an application for entry clearance is “marred by dishonesty” – whether in the applicant’s knowledge or not and even where the applicant is presently eligible for entry – it is not a disproportionate response for the Home Secretary to refuse the application, even in light of Article 8
- MM and AO (A Child), R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] EWCA Civ 668 (18 May 2012) May 18, 2012Secretary of State acted lawfully in not ordering independent inquiry into 2009 protest at Immigration Detention Centre. Challenge by children separated from parents during protest and claiming pschiatric damage as result.
- British Sky Broadcasting Ltd & Ors, R (on the application of) v Chelmsford Crown Court [2012] EWHC 1295 (Admin) (17 May 2012) May 17, 2012Sky, BBC, ITN etc. succeed in JR of decision by court to order production of 100+ hours of video footage to Essex Police of Dale Farm protesters: "... there were no reasonable grounds for believing that the footage of over 100 hours included material likely to be of substantial value to the investigation"
- Humphreys v Revenue and Customs [2012] UKSC 18 (16 May 2012) May 16, 2012Supreme Court: paying child tax credit to "main" care giver not discriminatory under art.14 ECHR to father caring for child 3 days per week. The specific test for justifying discrimination in the context of state benefits is that with questions of social and economic strategy the Court will generally respect the legislature’s policy choice unless i […]
- Assange v The Swedish Prosecution Authority [2012] UKSC 22 (30 May 2012) May 30, 2012
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UKHRB on Twitter
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Adam Wagner on Twitter
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- Free Speech at Work: A 1COR Seminar and Mock Trial – Wed 27th June May 29, 2012 1 Crown Office Row
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- The case for letting prisoners vote – Reuven Ziegler May 24, 2012 1 Crown Office Row
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Ferdinand v MGN – a “Kiss n’ Tell” public interest defence succeeds – Lorna Skinner
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Art. 8 | Right to Privacy/Family, Case comments, Defamation / Libel, Freedom of Information, Media, tagged Rio Ferdinand on October 2, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Ferdinand v Mgn Ltd (Rev 2) [2011] EWHC 2454 (QB) – Read judgment In the first “misuse of private information” trial against a newspaper since Max Mosley in 2008, Mr Justice Nicol dismissed a claim brough by England and Manchester United footballer Rio Ferdinand against the “Sunday Mirror”. The Judge found that, although the claimant’s [...]
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