Police Service of Northern Ireland

The complainant requested information relating to communications between the British Army and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after the McGurk’s Bar bombing in 1971. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) refused the request under section 12 of FOIA (appropriate limit). PSNI said that to confirm or deny that the requested information was held would take longer than 18 hours and would therefore exceed the appropriate limit. The Commissioner’s decision is that PSNI was not entitled to refuse the request under section 12 of FOIA. The Commissioner requires the public authority to issue a fresh response to the complainant that does not cite section 12 of FOIA in respect of the duty to confirm or deny that the requested information is held. Information Tribunal FTT EA/2023/0260 Consent Order.