Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant requested information about a trial. The Ministry of Justice (the -�MOJ-�) responded and refused to answer a number of parts of the request on the basis that it did not consider them to be requests for recorded information. It also applied section 14(1) (vexatious request) but failed to specify which aspects of the request it was applying this to. It confirmed that it did not hold some of the information and advised the complainant to contact the Legal Services Commission for these aspects of the request. The subject matter of the case prompted the Information Commissioner to consider whether the MOJ should have considered section 40 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (-�FOIA-�) and given a -�neither confirm nor deny-� response. He finds that confirmation or denial would disclose personal data and that the disclosure of this personal data would be in breach of the first data protection principle. The exemption provided by section 40(5)(b)(i) of the FOIA should therefore have been applied. The MOJ is not required to take any steps. The MOJ did, however, breach FOIA by responding to the request late. The MOJ must ensure that this delay is not repeated in future. Information Tribunal appeal number EA/2011/0240 dismissed.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 10 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 40 - Complaint Not upheld