Cases

Guardian News & Media Ltd v Information Commissioner

Held

Dismissing the appeal:

(1) Disclosure of the requested information was in breach of the first data protection principle on the grounds of unfairness. The Tribunal took into account the individual data subjects’ reasonable expectations of what would happen to the information, whether disclosure would cause unnecessary or unjustified damage to the individuals and the legitimate interests of the public in seeing the withheld information. The Tribunal held that judges had a reasonable expectation of privacy which may be breached by disclosure of the information, especially as complaints leading to disciplinary action often involved personal not professional misconduct.

(2) In relation to s.31, it was held that disclosure would also prejudice the administration of justice as it would risk undermining a judge’s authority while carrying out his or her judicial functions. The public interest in withholding the information sought outweighed the public interest in disclosure.

Also