Privacy Policy

I am committed to protecting your privacy in line with the Data Protection Act 2018. Any personal data collected through this website will be treated as confidential in line with the principles of the Data Protection Act 2018.  This is the JCR Privacy Notice:

PRIVACY NOTICE

1. Purpose
This privacy notice sets out the standards that you can expect from the office of the Judicial Complaints Reviewer for Scotland (JCR) when I request, use or hold personal information (personal data) about you; how you can get access to a copy of your personal data; what you can do if you think the standards are not being met. The JCR is the data controller for the personal data which is processed.

2. Why does the JCR hold personal information?
I collect and process information to enable me to fulfil my statutory remit under the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008, which is to review the handling of complaints investigations by the Judicial Office for Scotland into members of the judiciary, to ensure that they have been dealt with in accordance with the relevant Complaints Rules.

3. Types of personal data I process

I only process personal data that is relevant for the services I am providing to you. This includes:

  • Your name;
  • Your address (including email address);
  • Your telephone number;
  • The complaint file from the organisation you complained about.

4. Who the information may be shared with

To investigate your complaint, I must share information with the organisation you have complained about.

To help me to investigate your complaint I may ask the organisation you complained about for more information about its investigation.
I may also share your information with:

  • A lawyer if I need specialist advice but I will only share the information necessary to get that advice;
  • The Information Commissioner’s Office.

I investigate how a complaint about the conduct of a member of the judiciary1  (judges, sheriffs and Justices of the Peace), or about the conduct of tribunal members2 , has been handled by the Judicial Office for Scotland (JOS). After my investigation I will send my draft report to the JOS for a ‘factual accuracy’ check. When I have made my decision, I will send the final report to you (and/or your representative). If I am making written recommendations about procedures for handling the investigation of matters, concerning the conduct of judicial office holders, I will send my report to the Lord President and to the JOS.

I will publish statistics and case studies in my Annual Report but not in a way that identifies individuals.

I will not share information that could identify individuals, however, it may be necessary to disclose personal information when required by law wherein there is a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a current judicial proceeding, a court order or legal process served on this Web site.
I can quantify the number of visitors to my website, but I cannot identify them individually.

5. Processing sensitive personal data
The JCR does not seek sensitive personal data. If I do receive such data in a case, the data is not separated or specifically processed. It will only be referred to in reports where it is relevant to enable me to carry out my duties.

6. Retention of personal information collected
The JCR will ensure that information is not kept for any longer than necessary; the aim is to destroy the copy complaint file from the JOS and other records relevant to your complaint one year after the date of the final correspondence on file.

The JCR keeps paper files containing relevant documents and electronic records created by the JCR or sent to the JCR electronically. The paper files are securely stored in the JCR’s office and the electronic records are stored in secure IT equipment and data centres provided by the Scottish Government. The JCR will only send information abroad when communicating with a complainant who lives abroad or whose email is based outside the United Kingdom.

7. Access to personal information
You can find out if the JCR holds any personal data about you by making a ‘subject access request’. You can make a ‘subject access request’ by:

  • Filling out our online contact form, or;
  • By post: The Judicial Complaints Reviewer for Scotland, Box 124, 196 Rose Street, EDINBURGH, EH2 4AT.

You can also use these addresses if you think I am holding incorrect or incomplete information or if you have any questions about the information the JCR holds about you.

8. Complaints
When the JCR asks you for information I will keep to the law. If you consider your that your information has been handled incorrectly you can contact the Information Commissioner at:

The Information Commissioner’s Office – Scotland
45 Melville Street,
Edinburgh,
EH3 7HL

Telephone: 0303 123 1115
Email: Scotland@ico.org.uk

A copy of our Data Protection Policy – Privacy Notice is available on request.

Cookies and Website Traffic Analysis

When you enter this website your computer will automatically be issued with ‘cookies’. Cookies are text files which identify users’ computers to the server that host the website. The website then creates “session” cookies to store some of the preferences of users moving around the website, e.g. retaining a text-only preference. Cookies in themselves do not identify individual users but identify only the computer used and they are deleted on departure from the website.

Many websites do this to track traffic flows, whenever users visit those websites.

This website uses third-party cookies to measure use of the website including number of visitors, how frequently pages are viewed, and the city and country of origin of users. This helps to determine what is popular and can influence future content and development. For this purpose, we use Google Analytics to measure and analyse usage of the website. The information collected will include IP Address, pages visited, browser type and operating system. The data will not be used to identify any user personally.

Users have the opportunity to set their computers to accept all cookies, to notify them when a cookie is issued, or not to receive cookies at any time. The last of these means that certain personalised services cannot then be provided to that user.

Log files

Log files stored on the web server allow the recording and analysis of users’ use of the website. Log files do not contain any personal information.

Copyright

The information and publications on the Judicial Complaints Reviewer website are subject to Crown Copyright. Material may be reproduced without formal permission or charge for personal or in-house use only.

Guidance notes on publishing and copyright, including those from the Queen’s Printer for Scotland, are also available.

Information Collection

Judicial Complaints Reviewer is the sole owner of the information collected on www.judicialcomplaintsreviewer.org.uk.

Sharing

Although every effort is made to preserve user privacy, it may be necessary to disclose personal information when required by law wherein there is a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a current judicial proceeding, a court order or legal process served on this Web site.

Links

This Website contains links to other sites. Please be aware that the Judicial Complaints Reviewer is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. Users are encouraged to be aware when they leave this site and to read the privacy statements of each and every website that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this website.

Notification of Changes

Any changes to the privacy policy will be posted to this website, and other places deemed appropriate so users are always aware of what information is collect, how it is used, and under what circumstances, if any, it may be disclosed.

Retention and Disposal of Information

The Judicial Complaints Reviewer operates a Records Retention and Disposal Schedule to ensure that information is not kept for any longer than necessary in accordance with the principles of the Data Protection Act.

Contact Information

If you have any questions or suggestions regarding our privacy policy, please contact us

Complaints about the Judiciary (Scotland) Rules 2017

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1 Complaints about the Judiciary (Scotland) Rules 2017
2 Complaints about the Scottish Tribunals Rules 2018

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