Ministry of Justice

The complainant requested information about court costs and summonses from the Ministry of Justice (the ‘MOJ’). It handled part 1 of the request outside the FOIA; it said it did not hold the information requested in part 2; it relied on the cost exclusion in section 12(2) in relation to part 3 of the request. The Commissioner’s decision is that the MOJ should have handled part 1 of the request under the FOIA. He finds that, on the balance of probabilities, the MOJ does not hold the information requested in parts 1 and 2 of the request. He has also found that the MOJ correctly relied on section 12(1) in refusing to provide the requested information in part 3 of the request. However, the MOJ failed to provide its response within the statutory 20 working days framework and thereby breached section 17(1) of the FOIA. In addition, the MOJ breached section 16 of the FOIA by failing to provide the complainant with advice and assistance as to how she might refine her request with a view to bringing it under the cost limit. He does not require the MOJ to take any remedial steps.