A barrister has escaped immediate sanction for emailing confidential annexes attached to a judgment to a person on work experience as well as their chambers marketing team, which then posted them on the chambers’ website.
The identities of all parties in the case have been concealed.
Dame Victoria Sharp, president of the King’s Bench Division, handing down judgment last week in Re a barrister, which was held in private, said the breaches could be treated as contempt of court but were ‘not intentional’ and no further action need be taken. The barrister had explained and apologised to the court and intended to report themselves to the Bar Standards Board.
Last February, the Court of Appeal Sir Geoffrey Vos, Master of the Rolls, warned those who broke embargoes on judgments could expect to find themselves the subject of contempt of court proceedings, after Matrix Chambers posted a judgment on its website a day early.
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