Beith's Committee to challenge Minister over loss of Court cases on CD

3.30.00pm GMT Wed 23rd Jan 2008

The Ministry of Justice has today confirmed reports that four CDs of personal data held by the Courts Administration Inspectorate have been lost in the post. The Justice Committee is writing to the Ministry to ascertain what kind of information was held on the discs, what security measures were in place, how the loss came about and what action the Ministry is taking now.

Chairman of the Justice Committee Rt Hon Alan Beith MP said:

"We are extremely concerned at the potential serious risk to victims of crime and witnesses connected to criminal cases if their personal details have been lost and fall into the wrong hands, and the possibility of prejudice to any prosecutions. We expect a full account of how this loss came about and what the Courts Inspectorate and Ministry of Justice are doing about the potential consequences. This further underlines the need to urgently implement my Committee's recent recommendations for improved data protection and the introduction of criminal penalties for reckless or repeated loss of data."

In its recent report Protection of Private Data, produced in the wake of the HMRC child benefits records loss, the Committee called for:

-new reporting requirements that would require companies to report losses of data

-new laws making significant security breaches, where reckless or repeated, a criminal offence

-quick implementation of the new enforcement powers for the Information Commissioner to conduct unannounced spot checks on Government Department's data systems

-proper resources for the Office of the Information Commissioner.