Public Policy and Governance

The Administrative Court of England and Wales has recently considered whether the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS), when producing a report, under the ‘Invited Review Mechanism’ (IRM), could be challenged by way of judicial review.  The judgment of Mrs Justice Hill provides a helpful review of the relevant authorities and illustrates the limits of the judicial review jurisdiction – she concluded that a challenge could not be made.

Complaining about a PECR breach to the ICO, especially about an unwanted marketing communication, is quick and easy for the affected person. Meanwhile for an organisation at the sharp end of a complaint, the PECRs enforcement regime is not straightforward to untangle. In this blog, we outline the ICO’s specific enforcement regime when investigating breaches of the PECRs.

The UK Covid-19 Inquiry has published its long awaited draft terms of reference, and a consultation on those proposed terms. The final terms of reference are of considerable importance to those taking an interest in the Inquiry, as set out here by Stephen Parkinson

The Administrative Court has recently upheld a challenge to a ‘consultation’ undertaken by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) prior to the publication of the National Disability Strategy. Strikingly the DWP gave evidence that it had not been intending to carry out a consultation – but Mr Justice Griffiths held that, as a matter of substance (as opposed to intention), there had in fact been a consultation; and that, (unsurprisingly as it was not a standard that it thought it had to meet) the DWP had failed to meet the legal requirements for a fair and adequate consultation.

In December 2021, the Prime Minister appointed Baroness Heather Hallett DBE as Chair of a statutory public inquiry into the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic across the UK. The announcement concerning the inquiry stated that there would be a public consultation on the draft terms of reference. This blog discusses the likely approach and scope of that consultation.

Following the UK’s departure from the EU, the Government wishes to reform the data protection legislation within this country in order to ‘unlock the power of data.’ For charities, does this mean the painful prospect of reworking their existing GDPR compliance regime or the promise of a lighter regulatory load?

It’s a year since the UK Government announced business measures over human rights abuses in the Xinjiang province of China. In this piece we reflect on those measures and what might come next. We also look at what action prudent businesses should take now if they are concerned about products from Xinjiang in their supply chain, or how products they export to China are being used.

High on the Government’s wish list for data protection reform is the reduction of legislative barriers to ‘responsible innovation,’ particularly within the field of scientific research. Due to perceived complexity and lack of clarity, it is feared that organisations either choose not to conduct research at all or rely on unnecessarily burdensome consent processes. This blog considers the likely impact of the Government’s ideas

On 20 December 2021 the ICO launched a consultation seeking views on three documents, which together demonstrate its wide-ranging powers to undertake investigatory, regulatory and enforcement action.  

As we await the publication of the terms of reference for the UK wide Covid-19 Inquiry, in this blog I consider the key features of the recently published terms of reference for the Scottish Inquiry into the Covid-19 pandemic.

Any day now the Covid-19 Inquiry will publish draft terms of reference. This will be a significant event.  Once agreed, the terms of reference will determine the scope and length of the inquiry which is due to begin its work in the Spring.  In turn this will have a direct impact on how valuable the inquiry turns out to be.  

In this blog series, we will review the key proposals for reform of data protection law within the Government’s consultation paper ‘Data: A New Direction’. We will consider how far the Government will stray from the current path and signpost some potential pitfalls and practicalities for consideration along the way

A same-sex couple have commenced a significant test case against a branch of the NHS fertility sector for discrimination against them on grounds of their sexuality. 

In a 16 November 2021 blog, I described how refusing to give evidence to a public inquiry might play out. Another new case, Chairman of the Manchester Arena Inquiry v Romdhan [2021] EWHC 3274 (Admin), reinforces my view. Potential witnesses in next year’s coronavirus (Covid-19) inquiry take note.

In this blog series, we will review the key proposals for reform of data protection law within the Government’s consultation paper ‘Data: A New Direction’. We will consider how far the Government will stray from the current path and signpost some potential pitfalls and practicalities for consideration along the way.

Attempts to narrow the scope of judicial review have long been on the Conservative Party’s political agenda. Following the Independent Review of Administrative Law (‘IRAL’) and the subsequent government consultation on reform of judicial review, the then Lord Chancellor, Robert Buckland, introduced the Judicial Review and Courts Bill (‘the Bill’) to the House of Commons on 21 July 2021. The Bill is making its way through Parliament and is currently at the committee stage.

As we highlighted in our earlier blog following the Bill’s announcement, the proposed reforms are, at first sight, milder than had been feared. Nevertheless, the Bill proposes to make significant amendments to the remedies available in judicial review proceedings and to also limit the court’s jurisdiction.

In this blog series, we will review the key proposals for reform of data protection law within the Government’s consultation paper ‘Data: A New Direction’. We will consider how far the Government will stray from the current path and signpost some potential pitfalls and practicalities for consideration along the way.

We begin with the Government’s proposals for creating a ‘whitelist’ of legitimate interests which always provide a lawful basis for processing under the UK GDPR. 

Individuals asked to give evidence to public inquiries often wonder whether they really have a choice. The case of Chairman of the Manchester Arena Inquiry v Taghdi [2021] EWHC 2878 (Admin) illustrates how refusing to participate might play out. Potential witnesses in next year’s coronavirus (Covid-19) inquiry take note.

One of the key themes of the Brexit campaign was for the UK to retain Parliamentary sovereignty, or “Take Back Control.” This blog focuses on that aspect of Brexit and revisits previous discussions around delegated legislation and Parliamentary sovereignty to assess the effect of the past 9 months on our Parliament.

At the recent Conservative party conference, the new Lord Chancellor, Dominic Raab, signalled his intention to “overhaul” the Human Rights Act 1998 (the ‘Act’). It has since been reported that he is working on a “mechanism” to allow the Government to introduce ad hoc legislation to correct court judgements that ministers believe to be incorrect. Whilst the precise details of any mechanism remain to be seen, this notion is constitutionally problematic in that it potentially grants the executive wide powers to override the judiciary.