Gaskin v UK (1989) 12 EHRR 36 was a legal case from the United Kingdom, heard by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
Liverpool City Council gave Gaskin partial access, claiming that a duty of confidentiality owed to third party contributors prohibited disclosure of the remainder of his records.
The Court of Appeal therefore felt that access would undermine the British system which depends on information being supplied to the Authorities by the public 'in confidence'.
The Information Commission now provides the independent appeal mechanism absent at the time when Gaskin sought access to his case file.
However, the case files of individuals who were placed in care with the independent sector (the charities) are not caught by the access provisions of the Data Protection Act.