Information Commissioner's Office

Ministry of Justice

31 January 2008, Central government

The complainant requested from the Department for Constitutional Affairs (now Ministry of Justice) a copy of a review carried out by HM Magistrates’ Court Service Inspectorate into listing and case management in the Crown Court. The public authority took almost seven months to respond to the request during which time it was considering the public interest test in respect of the requested information. It eventually informed the complainant that it was refusing the request under section 36 of the Act and that the public interest favoured maintaining the exemption. The Commissioner has considered the complaint and has found that whilst the exemption was engaged the public interest favoured disclosing the information. The Commissioner found that the public authority breached section 17 of the Act by failing to inform the complaint which exemption it believed applied to the requested information within 20 working days of receiving the request. The Commissioner also found that the public authority breached section 17 of the Act by failing to inform the complainant of its decision on the public interest within such a time as was reasonable in the circumstances.

FOI 17: Upheld