Ministry of Justice
- Date 1 February 2016
- Sector Central government
- Decision(s) EIR 10(1): Upheld, EIR 12.4.a: Upheld, EIR 14.3: Upheld, EIR 2(1)(c): Upheld, EIR 5.1: Not upheld, EIR 9: Upheld
The complainant requested information relating to arbitration for the sale of land in 1967. After initially relying on section 32(1)(c)(i), (court records) to withhold the information, the Ministry of Justice (the ‘MOJ’) then said that it did not hold the requested information. The Commissioner’s decision, on the balance of probabilities, is that the requested information is not held by the MOJ. However, by failing to consider the request under the EIR, the MOJ breached regulation 2(1)(c). He finds that the request should have been refused relying on the exception in regulation 12(4)(a) of EIR (information is not held) and, thereby, that the MOJ failed to issue a refusal notice in accordance with regulation 14 of the EIR. In addition, the MOJ failed to provide appropriate advice and assistance and to transfer the request and therefore breached regulations 9 and 10 of the EIR. The Commissioner does not require the MOJ to take any steps to ensure compliance with the legislation.