Department of Justice Northern Ireland

The complainant made a request to the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS), which is an agency within the Department of Justice (Northern Ireland) (DoJ). DoJ is the relevant public authority for this case. The complainant’s request comprised three questions about the use of x-ray body scanners on prisoners, the internal concealment of “contraband” and the recovery of any contraband concealed internally. DoJ provided a figure for one of the questions, but refused to disclose any other information, citing section 31 of FOIA (law enforcement) as its basis for doing so. The Commissioner’s decision is that DoJ was correct to rely on section 31 of FOIA and refuse to disclose information within scope of the second and third questions in the request. The Commissioner doesn’t require further steps. Information Tribunal FT/EA/2024/0220 under appeal.