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Court of Appeal (England and Wales): Routine Redaction of Junior Civil Servants’ Names Incompatible with the Duty of Candour in Judicial Review Disclosure

Published on: 27 March 2024

Published by a LexisNexis Public Law expert
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Article summary

No more Blank Spaces—Routine redaction of the names of junior civil servants is incompatible with the Duty of Candour (R (IAB & Others) v SoS Home Department & Another)

R (IAB and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department and Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities [2024] EWCA Civ 66

What are the practical implications of this case?

This ruling means that when government departments disclose material in judicial review proceedings, the disclosing party can no longer, as a routine measure, remove the names of officials below SCS (Senior Civil Service) level—covering about 98% of the Civil Service. The court observed that it will usually be acceptable to redact contact information where that is useful; otherwise, any such deletions must be justified, and permission obtained by applying in accordance with the Administrative Court Guide (at §28, 34–36). The court ended by making it crystal clear that, should the government wish to carry on the practice of routinely masking junior civil servants’ names, it would have to introduce primary legislation to...

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