Ministry of Justice
- Date 28 July 2020
- Sector Central government
- Decision(s) FOI 36: Partly upheld
The complainant requested information contained in emails to and from the Chief Executive of Ministry of Justice’s HM Prison and Probation Service regarding the then impending release on parole of a named high profile offender. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Ministry of Justice has partly complied with the request in its application of the section 36(2) FOIA exemption (prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs). She decided that, to comply with FOIA fully, the Ministry of Justice must disclose the information defined in the confidential annex to this Notice. This annex has been sent in confidence to the Ministry of Justice only. The Commissioner requires the Ministry of Justice to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: Disclose the information specified in the confidential annex to this Notice. The public authority must take these steps within 35 calendar days of the date of this decision notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court. Information Tribunal appeal EA/2020/0255 appeal allowed.