England and Wales Case Law

Mark Dowding v The Character Group Plc

The claimant's failure to comply with substantial costs orders, despite having sufficient assets, justifies an unless order for strike out unless payment is made. The claims sought to be amended are barred by issue estoppel and abuse of process, having been determined in prior Employment Tribunal proceedings. The fraud proceedings and allegations of forged evidence are manifestly unmeritorious and do not warrant deferral or stay. Data subject access requests are abusive, have no realistic prospect of success, and are properly disposed of by summary judgment.

Source excerpt

• Strike out
• Summary judgment
• Costs orders
• Issue estoppel
• Abuse of process
• Data subject access requests

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Buwule v Nationwide Building Society

Buwule v Nationwide Building Society [2025] EWHC 3556 (KB) (14 May 2025)

The High Court refused permission to appeal and dismissed a stay application after rejecting claims of judicial bias, procedural unfairness, and data protection breaches.

• Appeal procedure
• Admission of fresh evidence
• Judicial bias
• Data subject access requests
• Fraud markers
• Gdpr compliance

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HSBC Bank plc v Carmen Chevalier-Firescu

The Employment Tribunal failed to adequately explain its findings regarding the claimant's knowledge of the facts supporting her claims and did not properly distinguish between knowledge of non-appointment and knowledge of discriminatory reasons. The ET's reasoning was insufficient to justify refusal to extend time or strike out the race discrimination claim. The appeal is dismissed and the claims remitted for reconsideration.

Source excerpt

• Victimisation
• Sex discrimination
• Race discrimination
• Extension of time
• Jurisdiction
• Protected acts

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Ben Peter Delo, R (on the application of) v The Information Commissioner

The UK GDPR and DPA 2018 do not require the Information Commissioner to determine the merits of every complaint. The Commissioner has a broad discretion to decide the extent of investigation and the form of outcome, provided he handles the complaint and informs the complainant of the outcome. The Commissioner lawfully exercised that discretion in this case by concluding, based on the available information, that no further action was required and informing Mr Delo accordingly.

Source excerpt

• Uk gdpr
• Data subject access requests
• Regulatory discretion
• Judicial review
• Remedies under data protection law

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Delo, R (On the Application Of) v The Information Commissioner (Rev1)

Delo, R (On the Application Of) v The Information Commissioner (Rev1) [2023] EWCA Civ 1141 (10 October 2023)

The Court of Appeal held that the Information Commissioner has discretion over how to handle data protection complaints and need not decide the merits of every complaint.

• Uk gdpr
• Data subject access requests
• Regulatory complaints
• Commissioner's discretion
• Alternative remedies
• Data-protection

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Matthew Cox v Information Commissioner

The tribunal struck out Mr Cox’s application, holding it had no jurisdiction to award compensation or costs and no realistic prospect of success on the remaining issue.

• Gdpr
• Data subject access requests
• Tribunal jurisdiction
• Compensation for data breach
• Data-protection
• Information-rights

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Lees v Lloyds Bank Plc

Lees v Lloyds Bank Plc [2020] EWHC 2249 (Ch) (24 August 2020)

The court dismissed a Part 8 claim challenging Lloyds’ standing to enforce mortgages and alleging DSAR failures, holding the claim was without merit and an abuse of process.

• Securitisation
• Possession proceedings
• Data subject access requests
• Disclosure
• Collateral attack
• Jurisdiction

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Sarayiah v Williams & Anor

Sarayiah v Williams & Anor [2018] EWHC 342 (QB) (23 February 2018)

The High Court dismissed a committal application arising from a Norwich Pharmacal order, holding the order was ambiguous on complainants’ identities and no clear breach was proved.

• Norwich pharmacal orders
• Committal for contempt
• Disclosure obligations
• Limitation period in defamation
• Data subject access requests
• Qualified privilege

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Hussain, R (on the application of) v The Secretary of State for Justice

Hussain, R (on the application of) v The Secretary of State for Justice [2016] EWCA Civ 1111 (15 November 2016)

The Court of Appeal gave procedural guidance on amending judicial review claims to challenge later decisions, and held that Data Protection Act disclosure claims should usually be pursued by statutory remedy, not judicial review.

• Judicial review procedure
• Case management
• Data subject access requests
• Alternative remedies
• Prisoner classification
• Judicial-review-procedure

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DB v The General Medical Council

DB v The General Medical Council [2016] EWHC 2331 (QB) (23 September 2016)

The High Court held that the GMC unlawfully approved disclosure of an expert report to a complainant under the Data Protection Act 1998.

• Data subject access requests
• Mixed personal data
• Disclosure balancing exercise
• Article 8 echr
• Professional reputation
• Confidentiality

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