UNLAWFUL DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL DATA & CITING OF NAMES - RULING

Hon. Members, I want to give a ruling. I am going to give a ruling on unlawful disclosure of personal data and citing of names. This morning, during the Private Notice Question, the Leader of the Opposition referred to a document which he wanted to lay on the Table of the Assembly. I asked him to let me peruse the said document and decided to withhold my ruling as to whether it was proper to render this document public. Now, I have had time to look closely at the document and I rule as follows – Standing Order 22(1), which relates to the rules concerning contents of question, including supplementary questions, provides, in its rule – “(h) a question shall not include names of persons or statement of facts unless they are necessary to make the question intelligible and, in the case of statements of facts, can be authenticated by the Member concerned, nor shall it contain charges which the Member asking the question is not prepared to substantiate;”. I can tell hon. Members that most of my predecessors have drawn the attention of the House on this very important principle, the more so as those persons whose names are mentioned, are not in the House to defend themselves. But more than that, we now have to refer to the Data Protection Act 2017. I am referring to Section 42 of the said Act which came into force in January 2018. I am referring to Section 42(3) of that Act, subject to subsection (4), which doesn't really concern us – “(…) any person who - (a) obtains access to personal data or obtains any information constituting such data, without the prior authority of the controller or processor by whom the data are kept, and (b) discloses the data or information to another person, shall commit an offence.” In the circumstances, I will hand the document back to the Leader of the Opposition. I will send it back to him, with a word of caution, in view of what I have just said. But this would apply, of course, to any Member of Parliament. Thank you.