Facts: MG sought disclosure of his social services records, relating to his time in care as a child but the local authority refused disclosure.

Judgment: The absence of any right of access to his social services records, and no right of appeal to an independent body, during the period before the Data Protection Act 1995 came into force, was in breach of MG’s rights to respect for his private life Article 8 ECHR.

Comment: there are now rights of access to social services records under the Data Protection Act 1998: for a useful guide, see the Subject Access Code of Practice: Dealing with requests from individuals for personal information.1https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisations/documents/1065/subject-access-code-of-practice.pdf.