Adrian John Bailey & Anor., R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for Justice & Anor.
[2023] EWHC 1438 (KB)
World Uyghur Congress (2) v Secretary of State for the Home Department & Ors
21 April 2023
[2023] EWHC 912 (Admin)
High Court
Someone accidentally shared the result of a court case before it was officially released. The lawyers involved quickly fixed the mistake, and the judge decided not to punish anyone but warned that this sort of thing is very serious and must not happen again.
Key Facts
- •A draft judgment in the case of World Uyghur Congress v Secretary of State for the Home Department et al was circulated to parties under embargo.
- •An HMRC policy officer mistakenly shared the judgment's outcome (favorable to the defendants) with several government departments outside the litigation.
- •The Government Legal Department (GLD) acted swiftly to contain the breach, notifying the court and reinforcing the embargo.
- •The HMRC policy officer acknowledged their misunderstanding and apologized for the breach.
Legal Principles
Breach of embargo on draft judgments can constitute contempt of court.
Counsel General v BEIS (2) [2022] EWCA Civ 181
Embargoes on draft judgments are mandatory and strictly enforced to ensure judgments are released to the public in a planned and coherent manner.
Counsel General for Wales v Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy [2022] EWCA Civ 181
Outcomes
No further action was taken beyond recording the incident.
The GLD took reasonable steps to communicate the embargo, acted swiftly to contain the breach, and the HMRC officer accepted responsibility and apologized. The breach was short-lived and quickly rectified.
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