Ministry of Justice
- Date 12 April 2023
- Sector Central government
- Decision(s) FOI 14(1): Not upheld, FOI 17(5): Upheld
The complainant submitted an information request to the Legal Aid Agency (“LAA”) for copies of all reports on Payments on Account in Civil Legal Aid cases. The LAA is an executive agency of the Ministry of justice (“MoJ”) therefore the MoJ is the appropriate public authority for the purposes of FOIA. .
The Commissioner’s decision is that the request was vexatious and therefore the MoJ was entitled to rely upon section 14(1) of FOIA to refuse it. However, the MoJ breached section 17(5) as it failed to provide its refusal notice within the statutory 20 working days.
The Commissioner does not require the MoJ to take any further steps as a result of this decision notice. Information Tribunal FTT EA/2023/0245 appeal withdrawn.