Data Protection

angelfire9

Hi Guys
Not seeking legal advice
Just curious

Does an ex wife have the right to demand access to her husband's work personnel file during a divorce hearing?
(For the purposes of establishing his disciplinary record)

Is this not covered by Data Protection???

Or can a court order over-ride your rights under the Data Protection Act??

barman linen

IANAL.....but as an employer I would not divulge this information in the absence of a court order for discovery. Certainly not on foot of a letter from her solicitor.

Best of luck....cant see how your disciplinary record is material in a divorce case.

Kosseegan

Documents sought in Discovery must be relevant and necessary. What has the husbands work disciplinary record got to do with a divorce application?

Dravokivich

data protection means that information about an individual can only be provided to people the individual has acknowledged as someone they permited to view it.

i think she may be under the false impression of what the "freedom of information" act refers to.

but weither or not she'd be privvy to those details is another matter.

angelfire9

Kosseegan wrote: »

Documents sought in Discovery must be relevant and necessary. What has the husbands work disciplinary record got to do with a divorce application?

Dravokivich wrote: »

data protection means that information about an individual can only be provided to people the individual has acknowledged as someone they permited to view it.

i think she may be under the false impression of what the "freedom of information" act refers to.

but weither or not she'd be privvy to those details is another matter.

Lets say for arguments sake that his disciplinary record would not show him in the best light (for example if she is alleging that his drunkeness was a problem during their marriage and his disciplinary records show he was disciplined for arriving at work drunk one day)
It could be argued that it might be relevant
BUT
Is that information not protected by the Data Protection Act?

And if he denies her access to the information can it then be obtained by court order??

Tom Young

If it is Ordered then no DP cover. Sorry. See 1988 Act Section 8(e) - That's not hypothetical now or anything.

angelfire9

Tom Young wrote: »

If it is Ordered then no DP cover. Sorry. See 1988 Act Section 8(e) - That's not hypothetical now or anything.

Disclosure of personal data in certain cases.

8.—Any restrictions in this Act on the disclosure of personal data do not apply if the disclosure is—

(a) in the opinion of a member of the Garda Síochána not below the rank of chief superintendent or an officer of the Permanent Defence Force who holds an army rank not below that of colonel and is designated by the Minister for Defence under this paragraph, required for the purpose of safeguarding the security of the State,

(b) required for the purpose of preventing, detecting or investigating offences, apprehending or prosecuting offenders or assessing or collecting any tax, duty or other moneys owed or payable to the State, a local authority or a health board, in any case in which the application of those restrictions would be likely to prejudice any of the matters aforesaid,

(c) required in the interests of protecting the international relations of the State,

(d) required urgently to prevent injury or other damage to the health of a person or serious loss of or damage to property,

(e) required by or under any enactment or by a rule of law or order of a court,

(f) required for the purposes of obtaining legal advice or for the purposes of, or in the course of, legal proceedings in which the person making the disclosure is a party or a witness,

(g) made to the data subject concerned or to a person acting on his behalf, or

(h) made at the request or with the consent of the data subject or a person acting on his behalf.

Thanks for the info Tom
I did look at the act & its amendments but hadn't spotted that little nugget

I suppose logically a court order trumps a person's right to privacy and/or data protection but I think its rotten