In an important test of British data protection laws, the High Court has refused to block a Russian businessman’s claim that the National Crime Agency (NCA) violated his human rights by collating personal information about him and passing it to the Russian authorities.
The businessman, formerly a senior oil company executive, had faced persecution in Russia and had been granted refugee status in the UK. After an extradition request by the Russian government was refused, he had been tried in his homeland in his absence and sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment for embezzlement and money laundering. The Russian authorities continued to be interested in securing his return to Russia to serve that sentence.
He launched proceedings against the NCA alleging that it had improperly gathered and processed sensitive personal data concerning him in breach of the Data Protection Act 1998. It was submitted that the NCA’s conduct had caused him much inconvenience and loss and he also sought damages for alleged breaches of his human right to privacy and respect for his family life.
The NCA argued that the claim was ‘entirely without merit’ and an abuse of process. The proceedings were said to be an illegitimate attempt to obtain a declaration from an English court condemning the Russian proceedings against the businessman and, thus, a collateral attack on the sovereign acts of a foreign state. The NCA also pointed out that it was charged with the detection and prevention of crime and had acted ‘merely as a conduit’ after receiving an Interpol-related request for information.
In refusing to strike out the businessman’s claim, however, the Court found that the case raised important and novel issues and that there were ‘compelling reasons’ why the rival arguments should be considered in detail at a full trial.