DISSENTING OPINION OF JUDGE WALSH

1. In my opinion Article 8 (art. 8) of the Convention is not applicable in the present case. The information sought by the applicant was for the purpose of furthering his legal action for damages against the Liverpool City Council. It was not sought in defence of or to further his right to respect for his private and family life. Furthermore the present application is, in effect, an appeal against the orders of the English courts which decided on the merits of the case not to permit the revelation of information imparted and received in confidence.

2. In my opinion Article 10 (art. 10) of the Convention is applicable. Prima facie the applicant ’ s right to receive the information sought from the public authority falls within the guarantee contained in Article 10 para. 1 (art. 10-1) of the Convention. The information sought was relevant to his legal proceedings. The willingness of the Liverpool City Council to furnish the information was restrained by the English courts on the grounds that to do so would be to breach the undisputed confidentiality which covered the documents in question. In my view that fell within the qualification permitted by Article 10 para. 2 (art. 10-2) of the Convention. In fact nineteen of the forty-six informants agreed to waive the confidentiality and the relevant documents were furnished to the applicant. The applicant ’ s freedom to pursue his legal proceedings is not impaired and he is free to exercise his rights guaranteed by Article 6 para. 1 (art. 6-1) of the Convention. He can furnish first-hand testimony of the alleged personal injuries suffered by him and examine and cross-examine witnesses in accordance with the rules of English procedural law. The fact that the English courts in their discretion might have given the applicant access to the documents sought does not affect the construction of Article 10 para. 2 (art. 10-2) of the Convention. The matter was decided in accordance with English law on grounds which, in my view, can in the circumstances of the case be justified as being necessary in a democratic society for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence relating to a very sensitive area of social welfare.

3.   In my opinion it has not been shown that there has been any breach of the Convention.

[*]  Note by the Registrar: The case is numbered 2/1988/146/200.  The second figure indicates the year in which the case was referred to the Court and the first figure its place on the list of cases referred in that year; the last two figures indicate, respectively, the case's order on the list of cases and of originating applications (to the Commission) referred to the Court since its creation.