Toulson & Phipps on Confidentiality, 4th Edition

Confidentiality is a complex subject. In the Fourth edition of Toulson & Phipps on Confidentiality, Charles Phipps along with new editors William Harman and Simon Teasdale provides a comprehensive and authoritative combination of reference, analysis and procedure in relation to confidentiality across all relevant areas of law.

As a (very) small selection, the cases decided since the last edition include:

• Saab v Dangate Consulting Ltd [2019] EWHC 1558 (Comm); [2019] P.N.L.R. 29, in which Cockerill J conducted a detailed analysis of several aspects of the public interest defence;
• Richard v British Broadcasting Corporation [2018] EWHC 1837 (Ch); [2019] Ch. 169, in which Mann J held that a suspect had a reasonable expectation of privacy in relation to a police investigation;
• Cape Intermediate Holdings Ltd v Dring [2019] UKSC 38, which is now the leading case on access to court records; and
• R (Bridges) v Chief Constable of South Wales [2019] EWHC 2341 (Admin), in which the Court of Appeal held that data would fall within the scope of the data protection regime if it identified someone by a process of “individuation” (notwithstanding their continued anonymity).
• ABC v Telegraph Media Group Ltd [2018] EWCA Civ 2329, in which the Court of Appeal upheld “the important legitimate role played by non-disclosure agreements in the consensual settlement of disputes”;

Key Features:

• Provides comprehensive guidance on the law of confidentiality.
• Sets out the principles and foundations underlying the law of confidence, identifying the essential elements of the equitable cause of action.
• Considers the widely varying circumstances in which duties of confidentiality may arise.
• Analyses the nature of confidential information, distinguishing what can and what can’t be protected.
• Discusses what counts as misuse of confidential information, and the different ways in which the unauthorised use of confidential information may be justified.
• Examines the remedies which may be available for breach of confidence – both before and after the event.
• Considers in detail the impact of privacy rights and the new tort of misuse of private information.
• Summarises both the data protection and the freedom of information regimes, reviewing the principal case-law.
• Examines the confidentiality issues that arise in a variety of professional and other relationships, including medical advisers, bankers, broadcasters and journalists, teachers, clergy, counsellors , mediators, employers & employees, police, and lawyers.
• Illustrates how confidentiality operates within the legal process, with guidance on legal professional privilege, the without prejudice rule, and public interest immunity, as well as other forms of protection which are available to litigants.
• Considers, in particular, how children’s confidentiality in the legal process is maintained.
• Analyses the law of arbitral confidentiality.
• Takes into account judicial decisions in other common law jurisdictions including, in particular, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
• Includes up-to-date case law which can be cited in court.