England and Wales Case Law

Thomas Mark Roberts v The Information Commissioner

The requests, though initially of value, had by the time of the FOI requests lost serious purpose and imposed a disproportionate burden on the small public authority, especially given that the issues had already been addressed by auditors and Audit Wales. The cumulative effect of persistent, repetitive requests and prior dealings justified the authority's reliance on section 14(1) FOIA to refuse them as vexatious.

Source excerpt

• Freedom of information
• Vexatious requests
• Public authority accountability

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Mahmood Sherali Bhogadia v The Information Commissioner

Disclosure of the withheld information, except for the number of Muslim candidates recommended in JAC00006, would breach section 40(2) FOIA as it would likely lead to identification of individuals, given the small numbers and public availability of appointment information. Only the information relating to JAC00006 is to be disclosed as the risk of identification is minimal.

Source excerpt

• Freedom of information
• Personal data
• Exemptions under foia
• Motivated intruder test

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George Greenwood v The Information Commissioner & Anor

The Cabinet Office was entitled to withhold the Draft Report under sections 31(1), 35(1)(a), 43(2), 42(1), and 23(1) of FOIA because the exemptions were engaged and the public interest balance test favoured non-disclosure at the relevant date; the Information Commissioner's Decision Notice was in accordance with the law and discretion was exercised correctly.

Source excerpt

• Freedom of information
• Government policy
• Law enforcement exemptions
• Commercial interests
• Legal professional privilege

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George Greenwood v The Information Commissioner & Anor

The Tribunal found that confirming or denying the existence of correspondence would constitute disclosure of personal data, that Ms Turley had a reasonable expectation of privacy while not in public office, and that any legitimate interest in disclosure was outweighed by her rights and freedoms. The appeal was speculative and unsupported by evidence of misconduct.

Source excerpt

• Freedom of information
• Personal data
• Legitimate interest
• Privacy
• Public interest
• Lobbying

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Yarwood v The Information Commissioner (IC)

The Tribunal held that the CPS did not hold the requested information in recorded form for parts 1-7, and that information within part 8 was properly exempt under section 30(1)(c) of FOIA, with the public interest in protecting the prosecution process outweighing the arguments for disclosure.

Source excerpt

• Freedom of information
• Public interest test
• Exemptions under foia
• Criminal proceedings disclosure

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Des Moore v The Information Commissioner

The Tribunal dismissed an FOIA appeal about West Mercia Police corruption-intelligence statistics, holding section 31 law-enforcement exemptions were engaged and outweighed disclosure.

• Freedom of information
• Law enforcement exemptions
• Public interest test
• Freedom-of-information
• Law-enforcement-exemption
• Public-interest-test

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Professor Barnie Choudhury v Information Commissioner & Anor

The Tribunal dismissed a FOIA appeal about BBC Make a Difference Awards costs, holding the requested financial information was held for journalism-related purposes and fell outside FOIA.

• Freedom of information
• Foia schedule 1 part vi
• Journalism derogation
• Public authority definition
• Freedom-of-information
• Bbc-information-rights

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Benjamin Lakey v The Information Commissioner & Anor

The tribunal dismissed joined FOIA appeals about ministerial interests and media-handling emails, holding section 36 exemptions were engaged and justified.

• Freedom of information
• Public interest immunity
• Ministerial code
• Confidentiality
• Judicial bias
• Disclosure exemptions

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Charles Small v The Information Commissioner & Anor

The Tribunal dismissed an FOIA appeal by Charles Small, holding that the Greater London Authority could rely on section 38(2) to neither confirm nor deny whether it held the requested information.

• Freedom of information
• Public interest
• Mental health
• Section 38 foia
• Neither confirm nor deny (ncnd)
• Transparency

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James Kelsall v Information Commissioner

The Tribunal allowed a FOIA appeal over DWP consent-validation procedures, finding the Commissioner had not shown on the balance of probabilities that no relevant recorded information was held.

• Freedom of information
• Adequacy of searches
• Public authority guidance
• Medical consent procedures
• Freedom-of-information
• Adequacy-of-searches

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