Akua Reindorf also shared with witnesses that she had been asked to preserve their
anonymity where required (see further details in the Review Feedback Mechanisms
and Process document exhibited at page 1652 of the open bundle and page 644 of
the closed bundle). The published version of the Report seeks carefully to respect
the confidentiality assurances provided for, as one would expect. Therefore, it is
clear to me that any individuals who were interviewed as part of the Review would
have had the reasonable expectation that the information they were providing
would not be disclosed outside of the Review process or as part of the Report.
84.Given the polarising nature of the public debate surrounding the Events, it is
likely that many of the individuals who contributed to the Review would be
extremely concerned if their views were ultimately made public. I consider this
would be the case whether or not the individual could be identified: given how
strongly views are held on both sides of the argument and the potential for attacks
to become very personalised, individuals who contributed to the Review may
become distressed at the very thought that their views were in the public domain. It
should be noted that confidentiality assurances were provided to individuals who
contributed to the Review not just in respect of their identities but in respect of the
content of their contributions."
91. From the document referred to by Mr Morris starting at page 1652 of the
Bundle we noted for example that:
33 people were interviewed of which 2 were anonymous (1653)
there were 12 written submission of which 5 were anonymous (1653)
in a template of an email used to invite potential witnesses to be interviewed
they were told (1667):“I have been asked to take evidence anonymously from anybody who requests
that I do so. If you would like to participate anonymously, please let me know
and I will ensure that you are not named in the report and that your identity is
not disclosed to the University. However I may ultimately have to disclose the
identities of people who have given evidence anonymously if I am required by
law to do so (for example if any litigation arises from the review and a court
orders me to disclose the identities).
If you wish to maintain your anonymity completely, the only way to do so is to
ensure that I do not know your identity. In that case, you should send me
written representations in a hard copy document which contains no identifying
material. You can place this into a blank envelope within a second, outer
envelope addressed to ‘External event reviewer, c/o the Office of the Vice-
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