Information Commissioner's Office

University of Cambridge

23 September 2005, Education (University)

The complainant requested copies of several documents from the University. Most were provided but one document was not supplied and the applicant received a Refusal Notice applying a section 42 (legal professional privilege) exemption under the Act. This notice did not contain details of any complaints procedure and therefore the University breached section 17(7) of the Act, although they remedied this by issuing a subsequent letter. The complainant alleged that the exemption applied to the refused information was not valid. The Commissioner decided that the document was covered by legal professional privilege and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosure.

FOI 17: Upheld FOI 42: Not upheld