Specialist barristers at Three Raymond Buildings have been practising in the field of data protection since the 1990s and have, since that time, built up a peerless body of experience acting for and against the Information Commissioner’s Office. Cases handled by members of chambers have involved the Data Protection Acts (1984, 1998 and 2018), the GDPR, the Privacy & Electronic Communications Regulations, the Environmental Information Regulations and the Freedom of Information Act.
Members of chambers have acted in many of the enforcement cases which have shaped the law in this developing field, including the first prosecutions of conspiracy to commit ‘obtaining without the data controller’s consent’ and ‘enforced subject access request’ offences, R v Shepherd [2019] EWCA Crim 2 clarifying the effect of statutory defences, and the Cambridge Analytica / SCL Group investigation.
In addition to matters pursued in the criminal courts, members of chambers also advise data controllers on enforcement matters more generally, including responding to information and enforcement notices, negotiating outcomes in civil monetary penalties matters and managing other enforcement activity carried out by the ICO.
This expertise also enables members of chambers to provide expert advice to data controllers seeking to ensure compliance with their obligations and to data subjects who have rights they wish to exercise, such as the Article 15 right of access and the Article 17 ‘right to be forgotten’.
Members of chambers are also available to provide tailored training on the consequences of data protection obligations on clients’ business activities.
To find the right data protection barrister, and to discuss any possible instructions, please contact our clerks on +44 (0)20 7400 6400 or email clerks@3rblaw.com.
Advising the ICO on the investigation of this matter, and subsequent criminal and civil enforcement proceedings.
Advised the ICO on charges in relation to the Damian Greene MP / Metropolitan Police Service affair.
On the effect of the statutory defences under section 55 of the DPA 1998.
Advised various corporates on legal issues arising from the National Crime Agency and ICO investigations into the illegal acquisition and sale of personal data by private detectives and their clients (avoiding prosecutions).
Acted for the ICO in the prosecution of a private investigator who was the subject of a Channel 4 documentary into the trade in illegally obtained personal information.
Acted for the ICO in first prosecutions of the section 56 DPA 1998 ‘enforced subject access request’ offence.
Acted for the ICO in the first prosecution of a conspiracy between a company, its officers and its employees to commit section 55 'blagging' offences.
Advice to various corporate clients and public authorities on data protection enforcement and compliance issues, including Bounty UK Ltd and Grove Pensions (both enforcement notices published by the ICO), and in the following sectors: accounting, media, construction, advertising, financial services, investigations, local authorities and healthcare providers.
| Address | 3 Raymond Buildings, Gray’s Inn, London WC1R 5BH |
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| DX | 237 LDE |
| Opening hours | 08:30 – 18:30 |
| Telephone | +44 (0)20 7400 6400 |
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| clerks@3rblaw.com | |
| Senior clerk | Data Protection |
