Attorney General's Office
- Date 11 January 2010
- Sector Central government
- Decision(s) FOI 10: Upheld, FOI 17: Upheld, FOI 42: Not upheld
The complainant asked the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) to provide a full version or summary of the advice the Attorney General provided on the application of human rights legislation regarding the operation of British armed forces in Iraq. The complainant also requested correspondence about this advice between the AGO and legal advisers at the MOD, FCO and the Armed Forces. The AGO refused to disclose the advice relying on section 35(1)(c) – Law Officer’s advice and section 42(1) – legal professional privilege. The AGO also relied on these sections 35(3) and 42(2) to refuse to confirm or deny whether it held correspondence of the nature requested. The Commissioner has decided that the AGO was correct to withhold the advice itself on the basis of section 42(1) however he has also concluded that the public interest under sections 35(3) and 42(2) favours confirming whether the AGO holds correspondence of the nature requested by the complainant.