The UK Gambling Regulator’s defense unintentionally made thousands of documents—some of which contained sensitive information—public in a lawsuit contesting the National Lottery license selection process.
Northern & Shell, one of the rejected bidders for the UK National Lottery license, sued the nation’s gambling regulator last year. In order to challenge the selection process for the Fourth National Lottery contract, which was worth tens of billions of pounds, the corporation named the Gambling Commission defendant.
A “Unprecedented” Mistake
After the gaming regulator’s defense mistakenly gave the claims access to thousands of papers, some of which were confidential, the court battle is still gaining momentum. In the end, the claimants want to modify their legal action, pending the court’s consent.
The Gambling Commission’s defense attorney, Hogan Lovells, committed a “unprecedented” mistake when disclosing pre-trial materials. It is normal practice for parties to a lawsuit to share documents with one another prior to a trial.
But according to reports, the Commission’s attorneys made 4,321 documents—some of which included private and sensitive information—relevant to the £80 billion ($103.4 billion) Fourth National Lottery contract public. The claimants now want to change the complaint they filed against the Commission in light of the records that were made public.
Northern & Shell requested permission to use some of the documents in its claim over the National Lottery license during a hearing held on Tuesday of this week. The public was not allowed to attend all of the latest hearing. A ruling is anticipated shortly, even if the court did not make a decision on the issue on Tuesday.
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Defendants assert that the documents could provide the plaintiffs an advantage
The Law Society Gazette cited Tamara Oppenheimer KC, who spoke on behalf of the Commission, as saying that the release of those documents—some of which were privileged—was a “obvious mistake.” Parties are inclined to act in a reasonable and truthful manner, she added in her explanation.
The receiving party shouldn’t be able to profit from an unintentional disclosure. Oppenheimer admitted that the claimants would unfairly benefit from the legal action if they were allowed to use some of the papers that were clearly revealed in error.
“It would be unjust and improper if (the claimants) were allowed to capitalize on those glaring mistakes by using the Commission’s privileged documents to support its case.”
Oppenheimer, Tamara KC
On behalf of the claimants, Sa’ad Hossain KC reiterated their commitment to modifying their plea and using some of the documents. “In actuality, we have the right to believe that the documents were revealed to us in a way that was not accidental,” he clarified.
Whether the court would allow the use of the extra documents during the trial is still up in the air. Even in that scenario, the claimants are not certain of a victory.
To make matters more complicated, when Allwyn took over early last year, the National Lottery license had already been transferred. According to that theory, even if the court decides in favor of Northern & Shell, it is still unclear how the legal issue will be resolved.
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