The Christian Institute v The Lord Advocate [2016] UKSC 51

Описание: The Named Person Scheme in Scotland has proven to be a controversial policy. Some argue that it helps vulnerable young people while others see it as a further intrusion by the nanny state. This judicial review case challenged the legality of the scheme.

The scheme finds its place in law in the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 and was challenged on three grounds:
1) The scheme pertained to an area that was reserved to the UK Parliament.
2) The scheme breached article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the right to privacy).
3) The scheme also breached EU law.

On the first ground it was decided that while data protection is a matter reserved to the UK Parliament the overall aim of the scheme is the protection of children and young people and so the Scottish Parliament does have a legislative mandate.

On the second ground it was held that the current criteria that exists for data protection under the scheme was not especially clear and precise so this ambiguity meant that the challenge was successful on this ground.

On the third ground there is no further incompatibility as regards EU law beyond that already described in relation to the second ground.

In the final part of the podcast we look at whether the victory of the Christian Institute is truly meaningful and what the result means for the future of the Named Person Scheme

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