[privacy] UK govt to fight publication of ID card review

[Mark Carey-Smith <m.careysmith () student qut edu au>]

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
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