Attorney General's Office

The complainant submitted a request to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) for copies of correspondence between it and The Duke of Edinburgh about Stephen Ward or the Criminal Cases Review Commission’s recent review of the Ward case. The AGO refused to confirm or deny whether it held any information falling within the scope of the request on the basis of the exemption contained at section 37(2) of FOIA, by virtue of section 37(1)(ac) which provides that information is exempt from disclosure if it relates to communications with, or on behalf, a member of the Royal Family. The Commissioner has concluded that section 37(2) is engaged and that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest favours maintaining the exemption.