Crown Prosecution Service

The complainant requested a direct email address for the Special Crime Department in York. The Crown Prosecution Service (the ‘CPS’) refused to provide this information, ultimately citing section 31 of FOIA (the exemption for law enforcement). The complainant disagreed with the CPS’ reliance on section 31(1)(c) (administration of justice) and argued on disability and equality grounds that the requested email address should be publicly available. Additionally, he submitted that he had been in receipt of the withheld email address privately via a CPS automated email response, evidence of which he provided. Having considered both parties arguments, the Commissioner’s decision is that the CPS has correctly applied section 31 of FOIA to the withheld information for the reasons set out in this notice. The Commissioner does not require the CPS to take any steps as a result of this notice.