Judicial Scrutiny, Parliamentary Accountability and the Afghan Super-Injunction

A massive data breach arising from the accidental release of records concerning Afghan citizens who assisted the UK government during its military presence in Afghanistan led to the imposition, in secret, of an unprecedented super-injunction imposing a worldwide prohibition not only on the disclosure of the relevant information but also on the disclosure of the injunction's existence. This case note examines the approach adopted by the courts when called upon to determine the appropriateness of the continuation of the injunction. It argues that the Court of Appeal's willingness to continue the injunction almost a year after it was originally granted raises serious constitutional concerns about its willingness to evaluate matters independently of the government's view and to ascribe appropriate weight to the constitutional principle of parliamentary accountability.