Hi Clementine
The defence counsel can access the defendant’s house file with her
knowledge / consent or make SAR on her behalf, becasue s/he is her lawyer.
But cannot access the victim's housing file without her explicit consent -
that would be a breach of non-disclosure provisions of DPA, unless one of
the limited exemptions applies.
Can't see that s.29 or s.34 would apply here - that only leaves s.35,
disclosures required by law, by order of a court or in connection with
legal proceedings. Even then disclosure has ‘fair & lawful’
plus 'necessary' and not simply 'convenient'.
Sounds like a fishing expedition to me, defence counsel may be hoping you
will disclose under s.35(2) – necessary for legal proceedings – but I
wouldn’t even consider it! Your organisation is not party to the legal
proceedings so I cannot see that the disclosure is ‘necessary’ and you are
not obliged to disclose in response to third party requests under s.35(2).
The prosecution will disclose to the defence all information required in
relation to the case as part of the ‘rules of disclosure’ – if the defence
wants access to additional information from you then they can get a court
order so that you are protected under s.35(1) if you hand over the file.
Take care! Kirsty.
Kirsty E Gray
Access to Information Advisor
Commission for Social Care Inspection
Note: comments for discussion and debate only and do not necessarily
reflect the corporate position of CSCI nor constitute legal advice.
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