A campaign group is taking legal action against the Welsh Government's use of Covid passes.
Big Brother Watch has issued a legal claim against Welsh Ministers over mandatory Covid Passes, arguing that the scheme is unlawful as it is disproportionate and unevidenced.
It wants to full disclosure of the documents and advice that led to the passes being brought in and wants to see the passes scrapped. In the weekly press conference on January 17, Welsh Government minister Vaughan Gething said they were in place until mid-February's review and could be in place beyond that.
The group say lawyers have been in contact with Welsh Government for a number of weeks but say they have so far refused to agree to Big Brother Watch’s repeated requests to publish their correspondence. It is now for permission to publish their legal claim which quotes from the correspondence "in the interests of open justice".
Big Brother Watch’s challenge claims that the mandatory Covid pass scheme involves “significant and far-reaching” rights interferences and results in “a fundamental alteration in the relationship between private persons, by forcing sensitive matters of personal significance to be revealed between strangers as a condition of exercising freedom of access to places, gatherings of people and the provision of services in the public sphere.”
Director of Big Brother Watch, Silkie Carlo, said: "We support proportionate measures to protect public health, but there is exceptionally weak evidence supporting the role of Covid passes.
"We’re calling on the Welsh Government to disclose the documents and advice they say they’re relying on to impose the Covid pass scheme on people in Wales. Their refusal to do so raises suspicions that the government’s case is weak or non-existent. The reluctance to be transparent now even extends to an unwillingness to consent to Big Brother Watch publishing the legal papers from its own claim, presumably because they quote from correspondence that attempts to justify the scheme.
"If Covid passes are having no noticeable effect on public health in Wales, as appears to be the case, there is simply no justification for them. Mandatory Covid IDs are a disproportionate intrusion of medical privacy, an erosion of freedom and a threat to equality.
“"Covid passes have been proven to fail and we are pursuing this important legal challenge to ensure that these draconian, discriminatory and pointless internal health passports are scrapped."
Shirin Marker, a solicitor at Bindmans who is representing Big Brother Watch, said: "In maintaining the Covid Pass Scheme, the Welsh Government is exercising an unprecedented level of control over the rights and freedoms of the public. In these circumstances, it is essential that the Welsh Government is transparent about what evidence they have relied upon to impose the scheme.
"Unfortunately, to date, such evidence has not been forthcoming.
"It is also important that the legal process on a matter of public interest like this is transparent, which is why we are seeking the Court’s permission to allow Big Brother Watch to fully publish details of its claim."
In response, a Welsh Government spokesman said: "The Covid Pass has been introduced as one measure – among many – to help keep businesses open while also helping to control the spread of the virus and protect the NHS.
"The venues where the Covid Pass is required have been chosen because they are mostly indoors and they see large numbers of people congregating closely together for prolonged periods of time. As we know, the longer large numbers of people are close together, especially indoors, the greater the risk of transmission.
"A stakeholder group were kept informed of plans and decisions. We continue to support businesses that are required by law to ask for a covid pass with a range of advice and guidance."
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