Clive David Carter v Information Commissioner

Clive David Carter v Information Commissioner

Section 43(2) FOIA was not engaged for request 1 as disclosure would not prejudice the Council's commercial interests; the Qualified Person's Opinion for request 2 was not reasonable; for request 3, the exemption was engaged and the public interest favoured maintaining it; for request 4, exemptions were engaged in...

Source-derived case information.

Parties
Appellant: Clive David Carter; Respondent: Information Commissioner
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
01 August 2025
Procedural Posture
Appeal / Final Judgment
Outcome
Appeal allowed in part and dismissed in part
Legal Topics
Freedom of Information Act, Public Interest Test, Qualified Person's Opinion, Commercial Interests Exemption, Disclosure of Public Authority Information
Information Rights Administrative Law Freedom of Information Act Public Interest Test Qualified Person's Opinion Commercial Interests Exemption Disclosure of Public Authority Information

Source-derived case record

Summary, issues, holding and outcome

More case intelligence is available

Unlock the full research layer for this judgment.

Full judgment text Downloadable case file Legal principles 7 Authorities cited 16 Party arguments 2 Amounts and remedies 2
Sign in to unlock

Parties

Clive David Carter

Appellant

Information Commissioner

Respondent

Procedural Posture

Appeal / Final Judgment

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the Council was entitled to withhold commercial information under section 43(2) FOIA
  2. 2 Whether the Qualified Person's Opinion under section 36(2)(b) FOIA was reasonable
  3. 3 Whether the public interest balancing test favoured disclosure or maintaining exemptions

Ratio Decidendi

Section 43(2) FOIA was not engaged for request 1 as disclosure would not prejudice the Council's commercial interests; the Qualified Person's Opinion for request 2 was not reasonable; for request 3, the exemption was engaged and the public interest favoured maintaining it; for request 4, exemptions were engaged in part but the public interest favoured disclosure.

Court Disposition

Appeal allowed in part and dismissed in part

Orders

  • An appropriately unredacted version of the Carter Jonas LLP report shall be disclosed within 35 days of this Decision being sent to the Council.
  • An appropriately unredacted version of the relevant information from the 2nd request shall be disclosed within 35 days of this Decision being sent to the Council.