22 October 2015, Central government
The complainant requested information about a named district judge. The Ministry of Justice (the ‘MOJ’) refused to confirm or deny whether it held the requested information, citing sections 32(3), court records, section 40(5), personal information and 44(2), prohibitions on disclosure. The Commissioner’s decision is that the MOJ has properly relied on section 40(5) to refuse this request. As he has found section 40(5) to be engaged, he has not considered the MOJ’s reliance on the other exemptions. He does not require the public authority to take any steps to ensure compliance with the legislation.
FOI 40: Not upheld