Information Commissioner's Office

Northumbria Police

17 March 2008, Police and criminal justice

The complainant sought reports made by officers of Northumbria Police concerning allegations he made against a District Judge. The complainant also requested copies of forensic reports and correspondence held by the police in relation to his complaint. The Commissioner has examined the requested information and had determined that it is the complainant’s personal data. Consequently the Commissioner’s decision is that the requested information is exempt from disclosure under section 40(1) of the Act and Northumbria Police was therefore not in fact obliged to confirm or deny whether it held the requested information by virtue of section 40(5) of the Act. The Commissioner considers that the police should have treated the request as a subject access request under section 7 of the Data Protection Act 1998. He has completed a separate assessment under section 42 of that Act. The outcome of the assessment was communicated to the complainant in a separate letter dated 14 January 2008. This decision is currently under appeal to the Information Tribunal.

FOI 1: Not upheld