High Court Decision on DPA

The following High Court decision has been published: "for judicial review of a decision of the National Security Appeals Panel of the Information Tribunal ("the Tribunal") of the 28th July 2005". The application was dismissed.

Overview:

In its decision, the Tribunal allowed an appeal by the Commissioner under s 28(4) of the Data Protection Act 1998 ("the 1998 Act") against a certificate signed by the claimant on the 31st March 2004 pursuant to section 28(2) of the Act, and quashed the certificate. The certificate in question was signed by the Rt Hon David Blunkett M.P., was directed to the Commissioner and certified that exemption was required from Part V of the 1998 Act in respect of any personal data not identified in a Schedule to the Certificate, for the purposes of safeguarding national security.

Decision:

For these reasons, as I have said, I consider that the Tribunal was right in the conclusion to which it came. I consider that the way in which this matter was progressed in correspondence was entirely sensible. Particularly it seems to me that the letter to which I have referred in paragraph 8 above sets out the procedural position entirely correctly. The service of the section 43 Notice was a sensible method of bringing the issue to a head