A Rochdale solicitor was ordered to pay more than £6,500 last week following a prosecution by Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) designed to fire a warning shot at solicitors.

Ralph Donner, a partner at Feld Mackay & Donner, was ordered to pay a £3,150 fine and £3,500 in costs after the firm failed to notify under the Data Protection Act 1988.


Mr Donner is the eighth solicitor prosecuted by the OIC in the last 12 months, but his was the highest fine so far because he elected to go to trial. The summons was issued in August last year, even though the firm had eventually notified in April. The IOC said it had contacted him five times over two years.


Under the Act, organisations that process personal information may be required to notify with the OIC at a nominal cost of £35 a year.


Information Commissioner Richard Thomas, himself a solicitor, said he was pleased the magistrates' court had recognised the seriousness of a failure to notify. 'This prosecution should remind solicitors and other organisations of their responsibilities under the Act,' he said.


OIC solicitor Philip Taylor added: 'We are trying to send out a message to solicitors who are not notified that we take the view that they are data controllers and do not qualify for the core business exemptions. There are very few who will be exempt from notification - for example, we have found one that used carbon paper and typewriters, with no computers.'


Mr Donner said he had believed an exemption for small businesses under the Act applied. He said the OIC was making an example of the firm: 'The summons was issued four months after we notified. The decision to prosecute was unnecessary. It involved a failure to notify for a four-month period only, and there is no suggestion of unlawful processing of data or other breach of the Act. We feel the fine was harsh.'