A claim that government business discussed over WhatsApp was unlawful has been dismissed by the Court of Appeal: Nicholas Dobson reports
- In R (Good Law Project Ltd) v Prime Minister, the Court of Appeal ruled that there was no implied duty under the Public Records Act 1958 to retain records; and no duty on ministers (enforceable by judicial review) to comply with specified policies.
- Consequently, the Good Law Project’s appeal and claim for judicial review were both dismissed.
The drug dealer Sportin’ Life in George and Ira Gershwin’s 1935 opera Porgy and Bess was sceptical about some episodes in the Bible (or, as it’s often called, the Good Book). So, as he sang: ‘It ain’t necessarily so/The t’ings dat yo’ li’ble/To read in de Bible/It ain’t necessarily so.’
This might also sometimes be said of the views of the Good Law Project (GLP) on what’s lawful and what’s not. For instance, when the GLP challenged as unlawful the use of private communication systems for governmental business (in particular, WhatsApp, Signal and private email), this was
