Opening the black box: Ensuring transparency in Government

PLEASE NOTE: This event has happened.  If you want access to the recordings they are available at 25% discount on whichever ticket would have been applicable to you, except student tickets which remain at £20. 
If you wish to acces these please e-mail events@publiclawproject.org.uk

A  six seminar online course to upskill lawyers and civil society on using public law disclosure duties and data rights to ensure transparency in Government.  We’ll also look at how to use these rights and duties to make Government accountable, especially where there is potential for discrimination and exclusion.
Presented in partnership with Mishcon de Reya.

This course is for:  

• Lawyers seeking to obtain data or identify gaps in data for legal challenge 
• Civil society campaigners, policy people and journalists seeking to identify and use data in campaigns and to highlight lack of transparency in Government 
• Those in Government dealing with data requests or the dissemination of data 
• Researchers seeking to identify and use hard to get data 

Outcomes for delegates 

• Understand the duty of candour and other public law duties related to obtaining data 
• Use information rights, including through public and private law litigation and requests 
• Make the best Freedom of Information and subject access requests 
• Identify data gaps and how you can work with civil society, Government and lawyers to get the information you need to assist your clients or beneficiaries  

Tickets
Full price: £120; discounted tickets at £80 (for registered charities, NGOs, those based at Universities, and trainees); full time students £20.

You can purchase access to just the FOIA masterclass and Subject Access Request masterclass  at £45. 

All sessions are recorded for delegate access post-event in PLP’s learning portal.

Programme

Tuesday 7 March
9.30 – 10.10 Duty of candour and the courts approach to disclosure in proceedings pt 1
Researchers involved in a Nuffield Foundation funded empirical study on judicial treatment of the duty of candour will present their findings. The study captured information on the operation of the duty, including outcomes in relation to candour issues; which (if any) consequences for a breach of the duty judges most commonly use; and the types of disclosure that the courts have required of parties to comply with the duty. They will also reflect on the overlap between candour issues and grounds of review, and the duty to preserve a public record.

• Dr Elizabeth A. O’Loughlin, Durham Law School (Chair)
• Cassandra Somers-Joce, MPhil (Law) Candidate, University of Oxford and Visiting Lecturer in Public Law, King’s College London
• Gabriel Tan, Wilsons LLP

10.15 – 11.30 Duty of candour and the courts approach to disclosure in proceedings pt 2
When does the duty of candour apply and what does it mean to say that it is a ‘..very high’ duty and how should litigators approach failures leading to a breach of the duty? Our speakers will address recent and relevant cases, including the case of HM (the migrant phone seizures case), part 18 requests for further information relevant to a claim (Afghan migrant cases) and the overlap between private a public remedies when breaches of public law duties occur.

• Gabriel Tan, Wilsons LLP (Chair)
• Tom Hickman KC, Blackstone Chambers
• Anneli Howard KC, Monckton Chambers
• Clare Jennings, Gold Jennings Solicitors
• Sonali Naik KC, Garden Court Chambers

14.00  – 15.30 Identifying and challenging data gaps
This session will look at identifying data gaps that hinder access to justice, and what issues are likely to be caused by those gaps, especially regarding fairness, transparency and accountability in Government. Case studies will include data relating to welfare benefits, immigration, and the justice system.

• Daniel Hoadley, Mishcon de Reya (chair)
• Dr Natalie Byrom, Legal Education Foundation (LEF)
• Prof Joe Tomlinson and Naoise Coakley, University of York
• Lilly Lewis, Garden Court North Chambers
• Chris Minnoch, Legal Aid Practitioners Group

Wednesday 8 March

9.30 – 11.00 The digital divide: Opacity in automation and digitalization
Government digital services are expanding and interactions between individuals and the state are increasingly mediated by digital processes, with public bodies using algorithms to make decisions across a range of areas. This session looks at when opacity is a danger, and what we can do to ensure transparency and accountability, avoid discrimination and ensure public law standards are met in data use and public decision making.

• Jo Hynes, Public Law Project (Chair)
• Mia Leslie, Public Law Project
• Monique Hawkins, The3Million
• Zoe Bantleman, Immigration Law Practitioner’s Association (ILPA)

14.00 – 15.30 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Masterclass

• Jon Baines, Mishcon de Reya
• George Greenwood, Investigations Reporter, The Times

Thursday 9 March

9.30 – 11.00 How does the Government deal with information rights?
How can citizens and civil society use data rights to ensure accountability and transparency in Government? This session looks at recent journalism exposing Government use of a ‘clearing house’ to vet FOIA requests and PLP’s tribunal challenges to the ICOs upholding Government refusals to disclose in the fields of technology.  We also look at the post-Brexit data rights landscape.

• Bernadette Smith, 1MCB (Chair)
• Alexander Sinclair, Public Law Project
• Jenna Corderoy, Open Democracy
• Maurice Frankel, Campaign for Freedom of Information
• Eleonor Duhs, Bates Wells

 14.00 – 15.30 Subject Access Request (SAR) Masterclass

• Niamh Grahame, Public Law Project (Chair)
• Guy Vassal – Adams KC, Matrix Chambers