Sorare Prosecution

Request

‘For an update on the outcome of the hearing for Sorare at 10am on 4 October 2024 at Birmingham Magistrates' Court. Could you please provide the following information:

A full list of court attendees, including full names and titles as well as who the attendee represents. An update on the outcome of the hearing. A copy of the particulars of claim.’

Response

Thank you for your request which has been processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

In your email you have requested:

‘For an update on the outcome of the hearing for Sorare at 10am on 4 October 2024 at Birmingham Magistrates' Court. Could you please provide the following information:

1. A full list of court attendees, including full names and titles as well as who the attendee represents.
2. An update on the outcome of the hearing.
3. A copy of the particulars of claim.’

The Gambling Commission can confirm as follows:

Question 1:

The representatives for the case are as follows:

Philip Kolvin KC - Barrister – Representing the Gambling Commission Kwaku Awuku-Asabre – Barrister – Representing Sorare SAS

In relation to a full list of other court attendees, this information is exempt under section 40(2) of the FOIA.

Section 40(2)

Section 40(2) of FOIA exempts information from disclosure if disclosure would contravene any of the data protection principles. Therefore, in order to disclose this information, the Commission must be satisfied it has a lawful basis to do so.

A more specific breakdown of this information would constitute personal information relating to identifiable individuals.  The Data Protection Act 2018 requires the processing of personal data to be fair and lawful. The Commission considers that it would be disproportionate for us to publicly disclose the names and titles of these individuals, as there is no strong public interest in doing so.

There is no legitimate expectation that the personal information of these individuals will be disclosed in the context in which it is held.    

On balance, there is no legitimate public interest in disclosing this information and it would not be fair to do so.    

This information is therefore exempt under section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.    

Question 2:

The matter has been adjourned for trial commencing 16 June 2025. There is a Case Management hearing on 10 March 2024 10:00am

Question 3:

The Gambling Commission can confirm that we do not hold a copy of the particulars of claim for this case.

Please note, when the case has concluded the Commission usually provide comments on the matter on the Gambling Commission website.

Review of the decision

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your Freedom of Information request you are entitled to an internal review of our decision. You should write to FOI Team, Gambling Commission, 4th floor, Victoria Square House, Victoria Square, Birmingham, B2 4BP or by reply to this email. 

Please note, internal review requests should be made within 40 working days of the initial response. Requests made outside this timeframe will not be processed.

If you are not content with the outcome of our review, you may then apply directly to the Information Commissioner (ICO) for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have already exhausted the review procedure provided by the Gambling Commission. 

It should be noted that if you wish to raise a complaint with the ICO about the Commission’s handling of your request for information, then you are required to do so within six weeks of receiving your final response or last substantive contact with us.

The ICO can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office (opens in a new tab), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Information Management Team
Gambling Commission