Ministry of Justice

The complainant requested a ‘call for evidence’ paper on assisted dying. The Ministry of Justice (the ‘MOJ’) refused to provide the requested information, ultimately citing various subsections of the section 36 exemption (prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs) of FOIA, namely sections 36(2)(a)(i) (the maintenance of the convention of the collective responsibility of Ministers of the Crown), 36(2)(b)(i) (the free and frank provision of advice), 36(2)(b)(ii) (the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation) and 36(2)(c) would otherwise prejudice, or would be likely otherwise to prejudice, the effective conduct of public affairs. The Commissioner’s decision is that the MOJ was not entitled to rely on any of the cited subsections of the exemption at section 36 for the reasons set out in this notice. The Commissioner requires the MOJ to disclose the requested paper in full electronically to the complainant within 35 calendar days of this notice.