Accessing Your Data In Contentious Matters – Comparing UK And Irish Approaches

In recent months, the UK High Court examined the circumstances in which an individual can make an access request for their personal data (a subject access request, or "SAR") under the UK Data Protection Act 1998 ("DPA"). This arose in the case of Kololo v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis. Mr Ali Babitu Kololo, sentenced to death for a serious crime in Kenya, submitted a SAR to the Metropolitan Police Service (the "MPS"), which assisted with the investigation. The High Court, exercising its discretion under the DPA, ordered the MPS to comply with the SAR made on behalf of Mr Kololo. The case highlights a somewhat marked difference between the Irish and English approaches to SARs.