DSARs: Are The Courts Flexing Their Muscles (Again)?

In the 2020 UK case of Lees v Lloyds Bank plc EWHC 2249 (Ch) (24th August 2020), the High Court dismissed a claim against Lloyds Bank for alleged failures to provide adequate responses to Mr Lees' data subject access requests ('DSARs') in breach of the Data Protec tion Act 2018 ('DPA 2018') and the GDPR. Having decided that Lloyds Bank had adequately responded to the DSARs, the High Court discussed its discretion to refuse an order compelling compliance where a claimant demonstrates that a defendant has not responded to a DSAR in accordance with the relevant legislation. Although this section of the Court's judgment was 'obiter dicta', and therefore persuasive rather than binding on other courts, it is helpful in understanding the likely approach UK courts will take when faced with such applications.