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[privacy] UK govt to fight publication of ID card review
From: Mark Carey-Smith <m.careysmith () student qut edu au>
Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2006 10:40:20 +1000 (EST)
Classic case of a concerted attempt by a government to avoid scrutiny of a contentious issue. From: http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2006/10/17/219112/Government+hires+legal+experts+to+fight+publication+of+ID+card.htm or http://tinyurl.com/ylthyr A couple of snippets: "The government is to hire internal and external legal experts, including a Queen's counsel, to try to block the publication of Gateway reviews of its ID cards programme - a scheme which ministers affirmed last week would go ahead at a cost of £5.4bn over 10 years. The Office of Government Commerce (OGC), which is part of HM Treasury, will use the Treasury Solicitor's Department, external legal experts and a QC to fight a decision by the information commissioner, Richard Thomas, that two Gateway reviews on ID cards can be published." ...."The government holds all the aces. The appeal case will be heard by an information tribunal whose chairman, or deputy chairman, and two lay members are appointed by the government. Even if the tribunal backs the information commissioner and rules that Gateway reviews should be published, ministers have the power in certain circumstances to veto the tribunal's decision. The government also controls the flow of money to the OGC and the information commissioner. With a restricted budget and a backlog of work, the information commissioner is unlikely to be able to spare the money to field a team of lawyers or a QC at the tribunal. The OGC, on the other hand, appears to have all the legal funding it needs, with ministers viewing the OGC's appeal against the commissioner's decision as a cross-government action." Mark Carey-Smith PhD Candidate Faculty of Information Technology Queensland University of Technology -------------------------------------- The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been kindness, beauty, and truth. The trite subjects of life - possessions, outward success, luxury - have always seemed contemptible. Albert Einstein ------------------ _______________________________________________ privacy mailing list privacy () whitestar linuxbox org http://www.whitestar.linuxbox.org/mailman/listinfo/privacy
Current thread:
- [privacy] UK govt to fight publication of ID card review Mark Carey-Smith (Oct 18)
- Re: [privacy] UK govt to fight publication of ID card review Jim Murray (Oct 20)