The procedural exemptions in sections 12 and 14 of FOIA are some of the most commonly used, and most commonly litigated, provisions of the legislation. Unsurprisingly, they have led to a disproportionate degree of appellate involvement. More surprisingly, they continue to do so. Three recent Upper Tribunal decisions add to that body of jurisprudence which ought to be considered by authorities faced with burdensome requests. This post is, as a result, quite burdensome itself.
Author: Christopher Knight
Identifiability and the Unmotivated Intruder
It is not uncommon for public authorities who hold statistical data to decline to disclose specific figures in categories for which the number is fewer than five, on the basis of a fear that the number of affected people is sufficiently small that they are reasonably identifiable. In other words, they rely on section 40(2) FOIA to withhold the number. Continue reading
Have You Found Jesus? The CJEU Has
When opening the door to the Jehovah’s Witnesses it is probably uncommon for householders – even for the erudite and very pretty readers of this blog – to respond that although they have not found Jesus, they have found a copy of the register of data controllers, on which the Witnesses do not seem to appear. Continue reading
Data Protection in the CJEU: Developments
Three updates for data protection watchers about cases with a wide-ranging potential impact in the Luxembourg courts. Continue reading
Throttling Environmental Information
As is so often the way in information rights, the Upper Tribunal reaches a perfectly sensible decision and gives practical guidance which others can actually apply, only for the Court of Appeal to insist on saying mostly the same thing but less clearly and less helpfully. As a result, the Upper Tribunal then has to reconsider the area and steer the law back to a productive course. Continue reading
Open Up! Access to Upper Tribunal Files
The Upper Tribunal has its own rules. It is not governed by the CPR. Inevitably, this leaves some gaps on occasion. One of those which occasionally puzzles people interested in the system is that there is no equivalent to CPR rule 5.4C, which allows non-parties the right to ask to see the court file. So can a non-party get access to an Upper Tribunal file, whether or not the material has been referred to in an open hearing? Continue reading