British
and Irish Legal Information Institute
Freely Available British and Irish Public Legal Information
[Home] [Databases] [World Law] [Multidatabase Search] [Help] [Feedback]
Information Commissioner's Office
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Information Commissioner's Office >> Babergh District Council (Decision Notice) [2011] UKICO FS50298268 (10 March 2011)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKICO/2011/FS50298268.html
Cite as: [2011] UKICO FS50298268
[New search] [Printable PDF version] [Help]
Babergh District Council (Decision Notice) [2011] UKICO FS50298268 (10 March 2011)
Summary: The complainant requested Babergh District Council-™s (the council-™s) letter of instruction to a firm of solicitors sent in 2002 together with a copy of their response some months later. The council said that it could not find the letter of instruction and withheld the response from the solicitors on the grounds that it was legally privileged. Initially it cited section 42 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 but subsequently sought to rely on Regulation 12(5)(b) of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (the EIR) to withhold the requested information. The Commissioner finds that the requested information is environmental within the meaning of the EIR and engages Regulation 12(5)(b) with the public interest balanced against disclosure. The Commissioner therefore does not require the council to take any further action. However, he does find that the council breached Regulation 14(2) of the EIR by taking more than 20 working days to issue a refusal notice.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: EIR 12.5.b - Complaint Not upheld, EIR 14 - Complaint Upheld