Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Confidentiality
- An employee has a right to protect commerically sensitive information they create
- If given to a rival company, that is breach of confidence
- A media organisation could be sued if it publishes leaked info.
- A civil wrong e.g a Tort
- Can also protect private material
- Elements needed in Breach of Confidence
- The information must have the
'neccessary quality of confidence'
- DOES NOT cover something in
the public domain or trivial
- Remember it as N.Q.O.C
- The information must have been imparted in circumstances imposing
an obligation of confidence
- Contractual relationships e.g Employer/employee
- Personal relationship
- Unethical behaviour
- E.g Journalists getting info unethically like trespass, theft
etc where confidence is owed to the victims
- O.O.C
- Unauthorised use of that information to
the determent of the party
communicating it
- Financial loss, commercially sensitive info, someone's health
or wellbeing
- Injunctions
- High Court can grant a temporary
injunction to stop publishing
confidential info.
- Disobeying can result in contempt or court and unlimited fine
- Can be used to stop something being leaked before the case is heard
- Only if the claiment is 'likely' to establish at the trail that the
publication should not be allowed
- Section 12 of the Human Rights Act 1998 which protects against injunctions
- S12 says that if a defendant is not present when the application is made, a injunction should grant an injunction
- One injunction to rule them all
- Does not prevent publication in another country
- Legal remedies for breach of confidence
- Ask a judge to impose an injunction to stop it being published again
- Court order for the confidential material to be given to the claimant or destroyed
- Sue the defendant for damages or 'account of profits'
- Ask a judge to order the publisher to reveal the source of
the information so that they can be sued/prevent more information being disclosed
- Defences
- Does not have the 'N.Q.O.C'
- Trivial or not to cause detriment
- Already in the public domain
- In the public interest
- S12 says the court, when considering imposing a injunction, it
must have regard to the public interest to publish the material