The Corporation had commissioned a report as to its coverage of Middle East issues. The claimant requested a copy, and the BBC refused saying that the report having been obtained for its own journalistic purposes, and that it was not covered by the 2000 Act. The claimant appealed against a confirmation by the CA that neither the Information Commissioner nor the Information Tribunal had jurisdiction to order the release of the report.
Held: The appeal succeeded. The request was necessarily made to the BBC as a public authority. It was wrong to treat it as a request to a non-public authority because of the nature of the document. The Information Commissioner therefore did have the jurisdiction to test whether the document was held for the purposes of journalism, and an appeal against his decision to the High Court. The case was remitted for this purpose. (Lord Hoffmann and Lady Hale dissenting)
Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, Lord Hoffmann, Lord Hope of Craighead, Baroness Hale of Richmond, Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury
[2009] UKHL 9, Times 12-Feb-2009, [2009] 1 WLR 430, [2009] 4 All ER 111, [2009] EMLR 254, [2009] All ER (D) 101
Bailii, HL
Freedom of Information Act 2000
England and Wales
Citing:
At First Instance – British Broadcasting Corporation v Sugar and Another Admn 27-Apr-2007
The applicant sought publication of a report prepared for the respondent as to the even handedness of its reporting of matters in the middle east. The BBC had refused saying that the release of the report would have direct impact on its ability to . .
Appeal from – Sugar and Another v British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) CA 25-Jan-2008
The court upheld Davis J’s decision that neither the Commissioner nor the Tribunal had had any jurisdiction to entertain Mr Sugar’s challenges to the BBC’s refusal to disclose the Balen report. . .
Cited – Watt (Formerly Carter) v Ahsan HL 21-Nov-2007
The claimant was a Pakistani member of the Labour Party. He had sought selection as parliamentary candidate, but allegations had been made about behaviour of members in the Pakistani community in his ward and the local party had been suspended. A . .
Cited – Edwards (Inspector of Taxes) v Bairstow HL 25-Jul-1955
The House was asked whether a particular transaction was ‘an adventure in the nature of trade’.
Held: Although the House accepted that this was ‘an inference of fact’, on the primary facts as found by the Commissioners ‘the true and only . .
Cited – Moyna v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions HL 31-Jul-2003
The appellant had applied for and been refused disability living allowance on the basis of being able to carry out certain cooking tasks.
Held: The purpose of the ‘cooking test’ is not to ascertain whether the applicant can survive, or enjoy a . .
Cited – Regina v Kensington and Chelsea (Royal) London Borough Rent Officer, Ex parte Noel 1978
A rent officer can investigate whether a tenancy is protected by the Rent Act 1977 in order to decide whether he has jurisdiction to fix the rent. . .
At IT – Sugar v Information Commissioner IT 29-Aug-2006
IT At this preliminary hearing the Tribunal finds that at the time of the request made by Mr Sugar to the BBC for a copy of the Balen Report it was held for purposes other than those of journalism, art or . .
At IT – Sugar v Information Commissioner IT 29-Aug-2006
The Preliminary Issue before the Information Tribunal
The Tribunal decided on 2 March 2006, under its rule 10 procedure (summary disposal of appeals – The Information Tribunal (Enforcement Appeals) Rules 2005 (the Rules), in the absence of the . .
Cited – Regina v Lancashire County Council ex parte Huddleston CA 1986
The respondent council had failed to allocate a university student grant to the claimant and the principle was directed at the duty of that authority to state clearly the reasons for its refusal and the particular factors that had been taken into . .
Cited by:
At HL – British Broadcasting Corporation v Sugar and Another Admn 2-Oct-2009
Disclosure was sought of a report prepared by the BBC to assess the balance of its coverage of middle east affairs. The BBC said that the information was not held for purposes other than those of journalism, art or literature. One issue was whether . .
At HL – Sugar v Information Commissioner IT 14-May-2009
. .
At HL – Sugar v The British Broadcasting Commission and Another (No 2) CA 23-Jun-2010
The respondent had had prepared a report as to the balance of its reporting of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Earlier proceedings had established that the purposes of the holding of the reporting included jurnalism. The claimant now appealed . .
At HL – Sugar v British Broadcasting Corporation and Another (2) SC 15-Feb-2012
The claimant sought release of a report prepared by the respondent as to its coverage of the Arab/Israel conflict partly for journalistic purposes, and partly for compliance.
Held: The appeal failed. Where the report was prepared even if only . .
Applied – Clarkson v Information Commissioner FTTGRC 18-Dec-2013
The Tribunal Procedure (First-Tier Tribunal) (General Regulatory Chamber) Rules 2009 – application of journalism exception – claim struck out. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Information, Media
Leading Case
Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.293986