The position is governed by the Enterprise Act 2002, a major
piece of legislation that not only transformed the UK’s approach to
bankruptcy and corporate rescue, and gave new powers to consumers,
but also clarified how public authorities were to deal with
information, such as product test results and company addresses,
obtained in the course of carrying out the functions of the
authority.
At present, this information can only be released where certain
conditions are met, including:
- Where the information is already in the public domain;
- Another piece of legislation authorises the release;
- All parties give their consent; or
- The information is needed for a criminal court action.
However, information cannot currently be released for the
purpose of private civil proceedings – a fact that has upset
consumer groups and intellectual property rights holders.
They are concerned that consumers who have been injured by an
unsafe product, or businesses that have had intellectual property
rights stolen and wish to take action against traders in Civil
Courts, are unable to obtain potentially vital information.
Businesses, on the other hand, are concerned that fewer
restrictions on the release of information could result in the
disclosure of confidential and commercially sensitive information
to rivals.
The Government is therefore consulting on whether changes are
necessary to the Act.
The consultation will run for 13 weeks and closes on 18th
November.
