The complainant requested information about the existence of procedures relating to specified criminal proceedings. The MOJ initially failed to respond to the request. When the MOJ provided its response, it said that the request had not been considered under FOIA because it was not for recorded information. However, the MOJ provided some information ‘outside the Act’. The Commissioner has considered whether the request was valid for the purposes of section 8 of FOIA (request for information). The Commissioner’s decision is that the request was valid for the purposes of section 8 of FOIA and, therefore, she finds that the MOJ should have handled it under FOIA. As the MOJ has failed to respond to a valid request within the 20 working days’ statutory timescale required by FOIA, it has also breached sections 1 and 10 of FOIA. Given that the MOJ has already provided the requested information, the Commissioner does not require the MOJ to take any steps to ensure compliance with the legislation.
FOI 10: Complaint upheld FOI 1: Complaint upheld FOI 8: Complaint upheld
Citations:
[2021] UKICO IC-81234
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Information
Updated: 05 November 2022; Ref: scu.669440
