Context searches meaning

Background On 15 March 2023, following a judge-alone trial, the appellant was convicted of a single offence of collecting or creating a record of information liable to be useful to a terrorist, contrary to section 58(1)(a) of the Terrorism Act 2000 (TA 2000). She was thereafter sentenced to four years’ imprisonment. The Crown’s case was that the impugned material consisted of a series of handwritten notes produced by the appellant, arranged in a coded fashion to deliberately obscure their meaning and thereby enhance their effectiveness. The material concerned the recovery of both munitions and explosives from Kevin Nolan and the related surveillance operations undertaken by MI5, and was said to be capable of providing practical assistance to terrorists when deciding where future munitions or explosives should be stored, which individuals ought to be selected for that role, whether any person had previously provided information to the security forces, whether surveillance had played any part in earlier detections, and whether accounts later given to the police by those...

Ashley v HMRC [2025] EWHC 134 (KB) The enquiry concerned the claimant’s sales of properties to special purpose vehicles owned by a company that employed him. HMRC issued closure notices with a charge to tax, asserting the transfers were overvalued and that a taxable benefit arose to the claimant under ITEPA 2003, s 201. The High Court reviewed a series of questions about the SAR, namely: as follows Whether the SAR was confined to data handled by WMBC, or extended to information processed more broadly within HMRC, in particular by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) in this matter, for the purposes of responding to the request (the ‘Scope of the SAR Issue’) Whether material concerning HMRC’s evaluation of the claimant’s tax position during an enquiry constitutes ‘personal data’ for UK GDPR purposes, in whole or in part (the ‘Personal Data Issue’) Whether HMRC had a duty to search for personal data relating to the enquiry that was processed by the VOA, including locating, retrieving...

Assimilated law Assimilated law describes retained EU law that continues to apply after the close of 2023. For more detail, see Practice Note: Assimilated law. This Practice Note offers guidance on the rights of data subjects in the employment setting. It reflects the UK GDPR framework, and statutory references are to Assimilated Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018), unless stated otherwise. It also accounts for provisions of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (DUAA 2025) in force as at 5 February 2026 (see Practice Note: Data (Use and Access) Act 2025—employment implications). Updated guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is awaited. For an overview of key themes in the Assimilated Regulation (EU) 2016/679, UK GDPR and DPA 2018, and for employment‑specific guidance, see: The UK GDPR and DPA 2018: key data protection issues for employment lawyers, and The UK GDPR and DPA 2018: lawful processing of personal...

What is an environmental report? Environmental reporting is typically carried out to evaluate site-specific environmental risks and liabilities. They are commissioned for a range of purposes, such as: undertaking due diligence on behalf of a purchaser or vendor of a property or corporate entity responding to regulatory action, or supporting ongoing environmental management by owners or operators Environmental reports can include: contaminated land assessments (desk-based, Phase 1, Phase 2 and remediation) flood risk assessments ground stability appraisals asbestos surveys The extent of data, analysis and assessment required depends on the probability and scale of the risk associated with any given site. An environmental consultant can advise which type of environmental report is needed. See Practice Note: Environmental investigations—types of searches and investigations. Why is peer review undertaken? Environmental consultants may present their findings differently, guided by their brief and the party they represent. For instance, a consultant will often take...

What is a phase 1 audit? A Phase 1 environmental audit is an impartial appraisal by external environmental consultants of an organisation’s adherence to environmental legislation and its management systems. The purpose is to methodically and precisely examine site activities and the local environmental context to identify breaches and the likelihood of contaminated land liabilities. By flagging environmental risks, their potential impact can be gauged and suitable remediation actions proposed. When will a phase 1 audit be instructed? The need for, and extent of, any audit will vary according to several considerations, such as: the terms governing a transaction current and historic operations site characteristics and environmental sensitivity the client’s risk appetite and available budget In most cases, a Phase 1 audit is commissioned because of: potential environmental liabilities highlighted by an initial desktop review (see: Environmental investigations—types of searches and investigations) a transaction event, including freehold or leasehold transfer, movement of funds, or...