Ministry of Justice

The complainant requested information involving specified forms and the associated numbers utilised for unpaid penalty charges. The Ministry of Justice (the ‘MOJ’) refused to provide some of the requested information under section 12(1) of FOIA, as to do so would exceed the appropriate cost and time limit. It responded to the remainder of the request. The Commissioner’s decision is that the MOJ is not obliged to comply with part one of the request under section 12(1) of FOIA. She finds that the MOJ complied with its section 16 of FOIA obligations by providing advice and assistance to the complainant. She also finds that as section 12(1) was engaged in relation to part of the request, the MOJ was not obliged to respond to the remainder (although it did so). No steps are required to ensure compliance with the legislation. Information Tribunal appeal EA/2020/0096 appeal struck out.