Michael Ashley v The Commissioners for HMRC

Michael Ashley v The Commissioners for HMRC

There are no strong case management reasons to adopt a two-stage approach; the conventional single hearing is more efficient and appropriate. The court has power to vary the previous order, but HMRC's application for a preliminary hearing is dismissed as it would not resolve all issues and would be inefficient.

Parties
Claimant/respondent: Michael Ashley; Defendant/applicant: The Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
26 March 2026
Procedural Posture
Application / Ruling on Application to Vary Order and for Preliminary Hearing
Outcome
Application dismissed
Legal Topics
Subject Access Request, Enforcement of Court Orders, Case Management, Summary Dismissal, Section 167 Data Protection Act 2018
Data Protection Civil Procedure Subject Access Request Enforcement of Court Orders Case Management Summary Dismissal Section 167 Data Protection Act 2018

Case Brief

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Parties

Michael Ashley

Claimant/respondent

The Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs

Defendant/applicant

Procedural Posture

Application / Ruling on Application to Vary Order and for Preliminary Hearing

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether HMRC's application for a preliminary hearing to summarily dismiss parts of the Enforcement Application should be granted
  2. 2 Whether the court has power to vary the previous order and determine preliminary issues
  3. 3 Whether section 167 of the Data Protection Act 2018 is available to ground enforcement against the Crown

Ratio Decidendi

There are no strong case management reasons to adopt a two-stage approach; the conventional single hearing is more efficient and appropriate. The court has power to vary the previous order, but HMRC's application for a preliminary hearing is dismissed as it would not resolve all issues and would be inefficient.

Court Disposition

Application dismissed

Orders

  • There will be a single hearing of the Enforcement Application.