British Museum

The complainant submitted a request to the British Museum (the Museum) seeking full legible photographic copies of the eleven tabots also known as the ‘Ethiopian altar tablets’. The Museum confirmed that it held the requested information but considered this to be exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 27(1)(a) (international relations) of FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that the information is exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 27(1)(a) and that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest favours maintaining the exemption.