Durham County Council v Dunn

Durham County Council v Dunn

Once civil proceedings have commenced, disclosure is governed by the Civil Procedure Rules, not the Data Protection Act 1998. The court must conduct a balancing exercise between the claimant's right to a fair trial and the privacy interests of third parties. The burden is on the party seeking to withhold disclosure to show strict necessity. In this case, the necessity test for withholding disclosure was not met, and unredacted disclosure was appropriate, subject to safeguards limiting use and dissemination of third party identities.

Parties
Appellant: Durham County Council; Respondent: Dunn
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
13 December 2012
Procedural Posture
Civil Appeal / Second Appeal From County Court to Court of Appeal
Outcome
Appeal dismissed
Legal Topics
Disclosure of Documents, Data Protection Act 1998, Civil Procedure Rules, Public Interest Immunity, Article 6 ECHR, Article 8 ECHR, Historic Child Abuse Litigation
Civil Procedure Data Protection Human Rights Disclosure of Documents Data Protection Act 1998 Civil Procedure Rules Public Interest Immunity Article 6 ECHR +2 more

Case Brief

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Parties

Durham County Council

Appellant

Dunn

Respondent

Procedural Posture

Civil Appeal / Second Appeal From County Court to Court of Appeal

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether disclosure of unredacted documents containing third party personal data should be ordered in civil proceedings alleging historic child abuse
  2. 2 Whether the Data Protection Act 1998 or the Civil Procedure Rules govern disclosure in such proceedings
  3. 3 How to balance the claimant's right to a fair trial against third party privacy interests

Ratio Decidendi

Once civil proceedings have commenced, disclosure is governed by the Civil Procedure Rules, not the Data Protection Act 1998. The court must conduct a balancing exercise between the claimant's right to a fair trial and the privacy interests of third parties. The burden is on the party seeking to withhold disclosure to show strict necessity. In this case, the necessity test for withholding disclosure was not met, and unredacted disclosure was appropriate, subject to safeguards limiting use and dissemination of third party identities.

Court Disposition

Appeal dismissed

Orders

  • The order of Judge Armitage QC for unredacted disclosure of the disputed documents is upheld.
  • Identities of non-parties disclosed are not to be disseminated beyond the parties and their legal advisors and are to be used solely for the purpose of these proceedings until further order of the County Court.