Charlotte Ventham KC and Robert Cohen represent the Secretary of State for Defence in new decision on armed forces whistleblowers

Charlotte Ventham KC and Robert Cohen appeared for the Secretary of State for Defence in an important new decision on whistleblowers in the armed forces.

The Claimants challenged the MoD’s policies on contact with the media and with parliamentarians. They asserted that those policies prohibited female service personnel from making external disclosures about their experiences of sexual abuse, bullying and harassment without the prior authorisation of the MoD. It was argued that such a restriction was unlawful, including by violating the Article 10 right to Freedom of Expression of Service Personnel.

Mrs Justice Lang rejected the Claimants’ challenge on all bar one ground (which the Secretary of State had conceded). In a decision which is likely to be of significant wider relevance, she concluded that the policies should not be interpreted as the Claimants had suggested, that the appropriate standard of review was that suggested by the Secretary of State, that the policies were lawful and that notwithstanding an admitted breach of the Public Sector Equality Duty the policies should not be quashed.