Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The complainant requested information from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) relating to the European Arrest Warrant and British citizens serving criminal sentences in foreign jails. The FCO refused to identify the requests as valid requests for recorded information under the Freedom of Information Act (the “Act”) and also failed to respond to the complainant under ‘normal course of business’. The Commissioner has investigated and finds that the requests should be dealt with under the provisions of the Act, and now requires the FCO to respond to the complainant confirming or denying whether information is held. If it is the case that information is held the FCO should either disclose the information to the complainant or issue a valid refusal notice under section 17 of the Act.