Information Law

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The Cornerstone Barristers Information Law team has been involved in some of the most important and high profile cases in the past few years including Professor David Carroll v Cambridge Analytica, Maurizi v Information Commissioner, Cooper v National Crime Agency and Stunt v Associated Newspapers Ltd.

Members provide advice on complex information law and data protection issues to both private and public sector clients, and they regularly appear in the higher courts and tribunals. This ensures that they are always in a position to give swift, practical advice in this highly technical area.

The team has particular expertise in data breaches, profiling, big data and AI, individual rights including access rights, right to rectification and right to be forgotten, environmental information requests and FOI requests.

The junior members also provided advice and assistance to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport on various issues arising in respect of the Data Protection Bill 2018. They were subsequently instructed in matters concerning the Data Protection Act 2018, including assisting with the implementation of changes to the Data Protection Act 2018 that will be necessitated by Brexit.

Members are public law barristers with a wide range of cross-sector expertise. This means that they are able to advise on all aspects of a case, where data protection or information law may only represent one of the issues.

This most often arises in the overlap between planning law and access to environmental information but can also be seen in the cross-over between this area of practice and election law, social care records and housing law issues.

Members of our team also regularly provide comprehensive training to clients in order to assist them in complying with their various obligations under GDPR, FOI, EIR and PECR. In this regard, several members provide expert training on behalf of PDP in both data protection law and freedom of information and they are regular contributors to the Freedom of Information Journal.

Our expertise

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
Data Protection Act 2018
Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR)
Freedom of Information Act 2000
Environmental Information Regulations 2004
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
Investigatory Powers Act 2016
Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014
Confidentiality and privacy at common law
Articles 8 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights
EU rules on access to information held by European Institutions
Aarhus Convention rights

Notable Cases

Moss v Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames & Information Commissioner [2023] EWCA 1438
Delo v Information Commissioner [2023] EWCA Civ 1141
Maurizi v ICO and CPS [2019] UKUT 262 (AAC)
Cooper v National Crime Agency [2019] EWCA Civ 16
Professor David Carroll v Cambridge Analytica
Maurizi v ICO and Metropolitan Police Service EA/2018/0071
Stunt v Associated Newspapers Ltd [2018] EWCA Civ 1780
Ittihadieh v 5-11 Cheyne Gardens RTM Co Ltd [2017] EWCA Civ 121
Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority v Information Commissioner [2015] EWCA Civ 388

Main publications

Philip Coppel KC, Information Rights. A Practitioner’s Guide to Data Protection, Freedom of Information and other Information Rights (6th edn, Bloomsbury, 2023). The edition features contributions from Cornerstone members James Findlay KC, Olivia Davies, John Fitzsimons, Richard Hanstock and Dr Christina Lienen.
Book review, Mapping the information rights landscape by Kate Brimsted.
Damian Welfare, Cornerstone on Information Law (Bloomsbury, 2019).
Damien Welfare, Estelle Dehon KC and John Fitzsimons authored Territorial Scope and Terminology and Fair, Lawful, and Transparent Processing and Outsourcing Personal Data Processing chapters in Peter Carey, Data Protection. A Practical Guide to UK and EU Law (6th edn, OUP, 2020).