Official: Government wrong on right to know
19 April 2000
The High Court today (19th April) quashed a Government decision to keep secret details of cases brought under new public disclosure laws.
Public Concern at Work - the independent whistleblowing authority - had been refused information about the hundreds of cases brought under the Public Interest Disclosure Act. The charity needed to know why and how whistleblowers claim they are victimised so that its lawyers can advise individuals and organisations and so that it can review how the Act is working in practice.
The Government had insisted that the public is only entitled to know that such claims exist and has no right to find out any of the background. The Government had also refused to allow Public Concern at Work - which promoted the legislation - to see anonymous summaries of the claims on a confidential basis.
Giving judgement, Mr Justice Jackson ruled that the policy was unlawful as Parliament had legislated that the public had a right to inspect the particulars of such claims. His decision will help ensure that the public has the same rights to know about all employment tribunal claims as about cases in the civil courts.
Guy Dehn, director of the charity, welcomed today’s decision. “This case shows how easy it is for public officials to think that administrative convenience trumps other public interests. The fact that this can happen even when Parliament has provided otherwise demonstrates why it is so important that the Freedom of Information Bill is strengthened by the House of Lords.”