Ministry of Justice

The Commissioner’s decision is that the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) was entitled to refuse to comply with the complainant’s five part request for information about Data Protection Impact Assessments under section 12(1) of FOIA. This is because the cost of complying with part 3 of the request alone would exceed the appropriate limit. MOJ has now effectively addressed parts 1 and 2 of the request through this decision notice, and the Commissioner considers that part 3 of the request couldn’t be meaningfully refined. However, the Commissioner’s decision is that there was additional advice and assistance MOJ could have provided to the complainant in respect of parts 4 and 5. MOJ therefore didn’t comply with section 16(1) of FOIA, which concerns advice and assistance. The Commissioner requires MOJ to take the following step to ensure compliance with the legislation: Confirm with the complainant whether it would be possible provide the information requested in parts 4 and 5 of the request within the cost limit. If it is, and the complainant confirms they want this information, provide a fresh response to these two parts.