At legis Chambers, we will only process you personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws and regulations, including the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). The notices listed below will explain to you how we collect and process your personal data.
The standard contractual terms for the supply of legal services by barristers to authorised persons 2012 (updated for the GDPR in 2018) as refereed to in Rule rC 30.9 of the BSB Handbook.
Your personal data may also be collected by barristers and staff of Legis Chambers (“Chambers”) in the course of instructing a barrister in Chambers, or in the course of any barrister in Chambers carrying out any legal work.
The General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”) requires us to make the information in this notice publicly available, only in relation to personal data that is not subject to legal professional privilege.
Barristers have obligations to keep their clients’ information confidential, under legal professional privilege, unless it otherwise becomes public or is disclosed as part of a case or in proceedings. Therefore, most data processing carried out by barristers when providing legal services will not be subject to outside these notices. Any barrister who obtains personal data in the course of their professional work is the controller of that data under data protection law; When staff (including practice managers and case workers) in chambers, obtain personal data in the course of assisting an individual barrister with legal work, that barrister is the controller of the personal data.
When enquiries are made about instructing a barrister by a client or their advisers , personal data may be processed so that we can respond to such enquires properly, as well as agree the terms of instructions, which will be set out in our Client Care Letters. Barristers collect personal data when carrying out legal work for the clients, from a range of sources: party engaging the barrister, disclosure obtained from other parties, etc.. Barristers may process personal data in order to provide the client with advice, representation or other legal services. This processing will be necessary for compliance with the barrister’s duties to the client and with the barrister’s obligations under the Bar Standards Board Handbook.
The processing by the barrister of personal data may, where this is lawful and necessary for the purposes described above, involve the disclosure of certain personal data to other persons or entities, including:
- courts and tribunals;
- solicitors and barristers acting in the matter to which the barrister’s instructions relate;
- other parties in the matter to which the instructions relate, or their representatives;
- witnesses or experts in proceedings, and potential witnesses or experts;
- Staff in Chambers;
- in the event of complaints, the Heads of Chambers and Members of Chambers who deal with complaints, and professional regulatory bodies such as the Bar Standards Board and the Legal Ombudsman;
- providers of professional indemnity insurance;
- the general public in relation to the publication of legal judgments and decisions of courts and tribunals;
- in certain circumstances and to the extent required by law, the Bar Standards Board, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The barrister may also process personal data for the purpose of the following occasions:
- dealing with any queries, complaints, claims or litigation arising out of or in connection with the instructions
- Assist practice managers collecting fees
- preparation of accounts and tax returns
- keeping any records that may be required in the event of a tax investigation
- compliance with any applicable regulatory obligations
- checking for conflicts of interests
- maintaining back-ups of electronic systems
- training other barristers, Pupils, case workers or mini-pupils.
- keep records of data processing including the deletion of data.
The barrister may retain personal data, where necessary for the purposes set out above, for up to 16 years after the latest of the following dates:
- The date on which the last item of work is carried out.
- The date on which the last fees due to the barrister are paid or written off.
- The date on which any proceedings in respect of which the barrister is instructed are finally concluded.
- The expiry of the time limit for any further appeal in any such proceedings.
In certain cases, the barrister may process personal data in order to fulfil customer due diligence checks, or make disclosures of suspicious activities. This processing will be necessary for compliance with the barrister’s legal obligations under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the Terrorism Act 2006, the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 or under any similar legislation that may be in force from time to time.
The processing of personal data by the barrister may also include the processing of Special Category Data where the person to whom that data relates has given explicit consent to the processing, or where the processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims. Special Category Data includes:
- Personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs or trade union membership, genetic data, biometric data, and data concerning a person’s health, sex life or sexual orientation (“Special Category Data”); and
- Personal data relating to criminal offences, alleged offences, convictions or sentences, or related security measures (“Criminal Offence Data”).
This notice is of general application and as such it is not possible to state whether it will be necessary to transfer personal data out of the European Economic Area (the EEA) in any particular case. In some cases, the barrister may transfer personal data to a country outside the EEA or to an international organisation, for example when communicating with another professional adviser acting in relation to the barrister’s instructions or when the barrister needs to work on a case while in a non-EEA country. A barrister may also transfer personal data to a country outside the EEA if the client resides or is located outside the EEA, or provides instructions from outside the EEA, or if the matter involves persons, organisations, courts or tribunals outside the EEA. A transfer to a country outside the EEA may be made:
- where the European Commission has determined that the non-EEA country (or a territory or sector within it) or international organisation provides an adequate level of data protection. Most non-EEA countries have not been assessed by the Commission to provide adequate protection. If personal data has to be transferred outside the EEA, then it may not have the same protections and the person to whom it relates may not have the same rights as would be the case within the EEA. The list of those countries that have been assessed to provide adequate protection can be found here;
- where the person to whom the personal data relates has explicitly consented to the proposed transfer after having been informed of the possible risks;
- where the transfer is necessary for the performance of a contract between the barrister and the person to whom the personal data relates, or the implementation of pre-contractual measures taken at the request of that person;
- where the transfer is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims; or
- where information concerning a judgment or decision of a court or tribunal is published on Chambers’ website, making the information available outside the EEA.
A person whose personal data is processed by a barrister may have rights under the GDPR:
- to request that the barrister gives that person access to his or her personal data;
- to request that the barrister rectifies any inaccurate personal data concerning the person;
- to request that the barrister erases the person’s personal data;
- to request that the barrister restricts the processing of the person’s personal data;
- in certain cases, to receive personal data concerning the person, which the person has provided to the barrister, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format.
Full details of these rights, and the circumstances in which they apply and limitations to them, are set out in Articles 15 to 20 of the GDPR.
A person whose personal data is processed by a barrister may also have the following rights under Article 21 of the GDPR:
- The right to object, on grounds relating to his or her particular situation, to the processing of personal data concerning him or her based on the legitimate interests pursued by the barrister. If the person whose data is being processed objects to such processing, the Barrister will no longer process the personal data except (i) where there are demonstrable compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override the person’s interests, rights and freedoms or (ii) for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
- An absolute right to object at any time to the processing of personal data concerning that person for direct marketing purposes.
You have the right to lodge a complaint regarding the processing of your personal data with the Information Commissioner: https://ico.org.uk/
Any changes we make to our privacy policy in the future will be posted on our website. This policy was last updated on 03/08/2019
The contact details for each individual Member of Chambers, including all staff and barristers, are available on our website. Any questions, comments and requests regarding this privacy notice should be addressed to contact@legischambers.com.
