freedom of information – Page 14 – Current Awareness

CA says Prince Charles’ advocacy letters should be produced – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted March 17th, 2014 in appeals, disclosure, freedom of information, lobbying, news, royal family by tracey

‘R (o.t.a Rob Evans) v. Attorney-General, Information Commissioner Interested Party, 12 March 2014.The Court of Appeal (reversing a strong court including the former Lord Chief Justice – see my previous post) has decided that correspondence between the Prince of Wales and various government departments should be released. A Guardian journalist had made a request under the Freedom of Information Act and the Environmental Information Regulations to see these documents. The Upper Tribunal had agreed that they should be disclosed.’

Uk Human Rights Blog, 16th March 2014

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Metropolitan police strip searched more than 4,500 children in five years – The Guardian

Posted March 17th, 2014 in children, freedom of information, news, police, stop and search by tracey

‘More than 4,500 children as young as 10 have been strip searched by the Metropolitan police over the past five years, data released under the Freedom of Information Act shows. The figures obtained by the Guardian show 4,638 children aged between 10 and 16 were asked to remove their clothes and then searched by police between April 2008 and the end of last year. Just over a third were released by police without charge.’

The Guardian, 16th March 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Regina (Evans) v Attorney General – WLR Daily

Posted March 14th, 2014 in attorney general, disclosure, documents, freedom of information, law reports, royal family by tracey

Regina (Evans) v Attorney General; [2014] EWCA Civ 254; [2014] WLR (D) 124

‘The issue of a certificate by the Attorney General, an accountable person under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, of a certificate under section 53(2) of the Act so as to override and render ineffective a decision of an independent and impartial tribunal required more than that he merely disagreed with the tribunal’s determination. Examples of what would suffice were that there had been a material change of circumstances since the tribunal’s decision or that it was clearly flawed in fact or in law.’

WLR Daily, 12th March 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Prince Charles letters: attorney general acted unlawfully, say senior judges – The Guardian

Posted March 12th, 2014 in appeals, attorney general, disclosure, freedom of information, lobbying, media, news, public interest, royal family by tracey

‘Three senior judges have ruled that Dominic Grieve, the attorney general, acted unlawfully when he blocked the publication of letters written by Prince Charles to government ministers. The ruling, led by Lord Dyson, the head of the civil judiciary in England and Wales, paves the way for the release of the letters which reveal how the prince lobbied government ministers to change official policies.’

The Guardian, 12th March 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Watchdog seeks greater clarity over public sector suppliers’ FOI responsibilities – OUT-LAW.com

Posted March 7th, 2014 in contracting out, contracts, freedom of information, news, public procurement by tracey

‘The contracts agreed between public sector bodies and their suppliers should be “more explicit” about which one of the organisations holds information for the purposes of compliance with freedom of information (FOI) rules, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has said.’

OUT-LAW.com, 6th March 2014

Source: www.out-law.com

FOIA disclosures: ‘motive blindness’ and risks to mental health – Panopticon

Posted February 27th, 2014 in disclosure, freedom of information, mental health, news, tribunals by sally

‘Some FOIA ‘mantras’ frustrate requesters, such as judging matters as at the time of the request/refusal, regardless of subsequent events. Others tend to frustrate public authorities, such as ‘motive blindness’. A recent Tribunal discusses and illustrates both principles – in the context of the distress (including a danger to mental health) likely to arise from disclosure.’

Panopticon, 26th February 2014

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Prince Charles’s letters: recipients’ identities must stay secret, say lawyers – The Guardian

Posted February 27th, 2014 in appeals, confidentiality, disclosure, freedom of information, news, royal family, veto by sally

‘The identities of the ministers who received confidential letters from Prince Charles promoting his personal views must remain concealed, government lawyers argued on Wednesday.’

The Guardian, 26th February 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Decision to block Prince Charles’s letters challenged – BBC News

Posted February 25th, 2014 in appeals, attorney general, disclosure, freedom of information, news, royal family, veto by sally

‘A move by the government to block the release of letters from Prince of Wales to ministers are being challenged in the Court of Appeal.’

BBC News, 24th February 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Freedom of Information: But What is Information? The Upper Tribunal Opines – Panopticon

Posted January 29th, 2014 in appeals, disclosure, documents, freedom of information, interpretation, news, tribunals by sally

‘We all know that section 1 gives us a right to request information from listed public authorities, but what does “information” mean? Information is defined by section 84 of FOIA (“‘information’ (subject to sections 51(8) and 75(2)) means information recorded in any form”). This somewhat opaque definition has generally been treated as meaning that a request is for information. It is not for copies of documents. If the public authority wants to type out the document in a different format, they can, so long as the information contained within that document is provided.’

Panopticon, 28th January 2014

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

UCAS and the extent of FOIA: Tribunal favours wide approach – Panopticon

Posted January 17th, 2014 in financial services ombudsman, freedom of information, news, police, universities by sally

‘Transparency advocates often express frustration at the number of bodies which are not within the scope of FOIA, because they are not listed or designated as ‘public authorities’ for FOIA purposes. The Coalition government responded by announcing, in January 2011, that FOIA would be extended to a number of additional bodies. This was done with effect from 1 November 2011, through the Freedom of Information (Designation as Public Authorities) Order 2011. This brought the Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland (ACPO); the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) within the scope of FOIA.’

Panopticon, 16th January 2014

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Personal data: Tribunal analyses the ‘relates to’ and ‘identification’ limbs – Panopticon

Posted January 10th, 2014 in benefits, complaints, data protection, freedom of information, news, tribunals by tracey

‘I have commented in previous posts on how infrequently the Data Protection Act 1998 has been the subject of substantive litigation before the courts. One consequence of this is persistent uncertainty over how pivotal concepts such as “personal data” are to be analysed and approached. Last year, the High Court in Kelway v The Upper Tribunal, Northumbria Police and the Information Commissioner (2013) EWHC 2575 (Admin) considered how “personal data” issues should be approached.’

Panopticon, 9th January 2014

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Proceedings brought by X – WLR Daily

Posted December 16th, 2013 in data protection, EC law, fees, fines, freedom of information, law reports by sally

Proceedings brought by X (Case C-486/12); [2013] WLR (D) 485

‘Article 12(a) of Parliament and Council Directive 95/46/EC of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data did not preclude the levying of fees in respect of the communication of personal data by a public authority. Pursuant to article 12(a), in order to ensure that fees levied when the right to access personal data was exercised were not excessive for the purposes of that provision, the level of those fees could not exceed the cost of communicating such data.’

WLR Daily, 12th December 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Prince Charles faces fresh challenge to secret communications with ministers – The Guardian

Posted December 4th, 2013 in bills, freedom of information, human rights, leases, lobbying, news, privilege, royal family, tribunals, veto by sally

‘Prince Charles is to face a fresh challenge to his secret communication channel to government ministers when a court is asked to reveal whether he lobbied for an exemption to property laws affecting his £800m estate.’

The Guardian, 3rd December 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

APPGER in the Upper Tribunal – Panopticon

Posted November 25th, 2013 in appeals, freedom of information, human rights, news, rendition, tribunals by tracey

‘The Upper Tribunal has finally handed down its judgment in All Party Parliamentary Group on Extraordinary Rendition v IC & Foreign and Commonwealth Office [2013] UKUT 560 (AAC). It is a judgment of Charles and Burnett JJ and Judge Wikeley. The appeal was from an FTT judgment which is analysed in detail by Rachel Kamm here. That post also contains the background to the case. In essence, the request was made by the APPGER for information relating to the participation of the UK in the practice of extraordinary rendition.’

Panopticon, 22nd November 2013

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Confidentiality of medical information after patient’s death: two new Upper Tribunal decisions – Panopticon

Posted November 15th, 2013 in appeals, confidentiality, freedom of information, medical records, news, tribunals by tracey

“The absolute exemption at section 41 extends to information obtained by the public authority the disclosure of which would give to an actionable breach of confidence. Does the obligation of confidence survive the death of the confider? If so, would a breach of that obligation be actionable, even if it is not clear exactly who could bring such an action? These issues arise most notably in the context of medical records. The Upper Tribunal has had something to say on this in two recent decisions.”

Panopticon, 14th November 2013

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Ofsted fairness standards graded inadequate – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted October 21st, 2013 in complaints, freedom of information, human rights, injunctions, judicial review, news, ombudsmen, oral hearings, quality assurance, school children, standards by sally

“The Care Quality Commission has made headlines recently with the focus on inadequacies in its processes as a regulator and its failure to spot sub-standard and even dangerous levels of care. Its fellow regulator Ofsted, however, is more likely to be accused of being over – rather than under – zealous, but its approach has been subject to far less scrutiny.”

Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 18th October 2013

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Failure to respond to FOI request more promptly than ‘long stop’ 20 days deadline needs to be justified, says watchdog – OUT-LAW.com

Posted October 9th, 2013 in codes of practice, disclosure, freedom of information, news, ombudsmen, time limits by sally

“Public authorities may need to maintain a record to justify why they are unable to respond to freedom of information (FOI) requests more promptly than within 20 working days after the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) released new guidance.”

OUT-LAW.com, 8th October 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Ministry of Defence holds 66,000 files in breach of 30-year rule – The Guardian

Posted October 7th, 2013 in archives, data protection, disclosure, freedom of information, government departments, news, Northern Ireland, public records by sally

“The Ministry of Defence is unlawfully holding thousands of files that should have been declassified and transferred to the National Archive under the 30-year rule, including large numbers of documents about the conflict in Northern Ireland.”

The Guardian, 6th October 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Court case aims to force MoD’s hand with Freedom of Information requests on drones – The Independent

Posted September 23rd, 2013 in Afghanistan, armed forces, closed material, freedom of information, government departments, human rights, news, public interest, weapons by sally

“Britain’s controversial deployment of US-built Reaper drones in Afghanistan will come under scrutiny in court this week in a closed hearing that will see a UK-based drone operator give evidence for the first time.”

The Independent, 22nd September 2013

Source: www.independent.co.uk

What is a “public authority” for the purposes of environmental information? – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted September 18th, 2013 in disclosure, EC law, freedom of information, human rights, news, utilities by sally

“In this most recent case concerning access by private individuals to environmental information held by public authorities, the AG grasps the nettlish question of what precisely a public authority is. The issue was a subject of debate because the request for information had been addressed to private companies which manage a public service relating to the environment. The question therefore was whether, even though the companies concerned are private, they may be regarded as ‘public authorities’ for the purposes of the Directive governing access to environmental information (Directive 2003/4).”

UK Human Rights Blog, 17th September 2013

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

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