Data protection and freedom of information
Members of Chambers have widespread experience in Data Protection and Freedom of Information. In the European Court of Justice, we have appeared in leading cases concerning the Data Protection Directive, including the first such case - Lindqvist - and recent cases such as Huber and Rijkeboer. Members of Chambers have also appeared in cases on the Access Regulation such as Turco and IFAW. Domestically, we have been instructed in claims for breach of confidence, such as the Source Informatics case before the Court of Appeal, which concerned anonymised data from medical prescriptions, as well as various cases in front of the Information Tribunal, including Campaign Against the Arms Trade (the Saudi MoU case), Bellamy (legal privilege) and Lord Avebury (meetings between Tony Blair and Rupert Murdoch). Members of Chambers also appeared on behalf of the Speaker of the House of Commons in one of the few appeals from the Information Tribunal to the High Court (Office of Government Commerce).
As well as litigation, members of Chambers have advised on various aspects of Data Protection and Freedom of Information. This has ranged from advice on the disclosure of MPs' expenses to pro bono advice on the US Agency of International Development's proposed partner vetting system for charities.
Cases of note include:
- Case C-101/01 Lindqvist (ECJ)
- R v Department of Health, ex parte Source Informatics (Court of Appeal)
- C/39/05P & C/52/05P Turco (ECJ)
- C/64/05P IFAW (ECJ)
- Campaign Against the Arms Trade v Information Commissioner (Information Tribunal)
- Office of Government Commerce v Information Commissioner (High Court)