Ministry of Justice
- Date 20 March 2014
- Sector Central government
- Decision(s) FOI 12: Upheld
The complainant requested a copy of a document containing guidance to court staff. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) confirmed it held the requested information – namely the Crown Court manual. It initially provided the complainant with one section of that manual. However, having established that the request was in respect of the whole document, the MoJ refused to disclose the requested information citing section 12 of FOIA (cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit). The Commissioner’s decision is that the MoJ incorrectly relied on section 12. The Commissioner requires the public authority to issue a fresh response to the request that does not rely on section 12.