SIC Mr Croisdain MacKenzie (Mr MacKenzie) requested from Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (the Council) a specified Opinion of Senior Counsel and related information. The Council provided some information, but withheld the Opinion and a summary of it in terms of section 36(1) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), on the basis that these documents were information in respect of which a claim of confidentiality of communications could be maintained in legal proceedings. Following a review, Mr MacKenzie remained dissatisfied and applied to the Commissioner for a decision.
The Commissioner found that the Council had dealt with Mr MacKenzie’s request for information in accordance with Part 1 of FOISA. He found that the Council had correctly applied the exemption in section 36(1) and that the public interest in disclosing of the information was outweighed by the public interest in maintaining the exemption.
However, the Commissioner found that the Council had failed to respond to Mr MacKenzie’s request for review within the timescale specified in section 21(1) of FOISA. He did not require the Council to take any action in relation to this breach in response to this decision.
Citations:
[2009] ScotIC 040 – 2009
Links:
Scotland, Information
Updated: 08 September 2022; Ref: scu.433993