Asaf
Rafiq
Employee
7008826
Decision - Employee-related decision
Outcome: Control of non-qualified staff (Section 43 / Section 99 order)
Outcome date: 22 June 2023
Published date: 23 November 2023
Firm details
Firm or organisation at date of publication and at time of matters giving rise to outcome
Name: Minster Law Limited
Address(es): Kingfisher House, Peel Avenue, Denby Dale Road, Wakefield, WF2 7UA
Firm ID: 383018
Outcome details
This outcome was reached by SRA decision.
Decision details
The SRA has disqualified Mr Rafiq with immediate effect from holding any of the following roles in law firms regulated by the SRA:
- Head of Legal Practice
- Head of Finance and Administration
- A manager
- An employee
Between 24 April 2107 and 8 June 2022 Mr Rafiq was employed as a customer response advisor by Minster Law Limited. This role gave him access to clients' personal data including their files.
Between 1 March 2022 and 19 April 2022, Mr Rafiq improperly accessed the personal data of clients of the firm and improperly provided some of that data to third parties outside the firm.
'Improperly accessed' means Mr Rafiq accessed the personal data without the knowledge or consent of the clients, without the knowledge or consent of his employer, and by using a discontinued and unauthorised log in account.
'Improperly provided' means Mr Rafiq provided some or all of the data he had accessed to third parties without the knowledge or consent of the clients whose data it was, and his employer.
Mr Rafiq's conduct breached relevant duties that applied to him as an employee of the firm, namely SRA Principles 2 and 5 (2019), and paragraph 6.3 of the SRA Code of Conduct for Firms (2019).
It was found that it would be undesirable for him to act as a head of legal practice, head of finance and administration, a manager or an employee of a body licensed in accordance with section 99 of the Legal Services Act 2007.
Mr Rafiq was disqualified from holding any of these roles.
Mr Rafiq was also ordered to pay the SRA's costs of £600.