Ministry of Justice

The complainant requested correspondence connected with compensation payments for infected blood. The Ministry of Justice (the ‘MOJ’) provided some information with redactions under section 40(2) of FOIA – the exemption for personal information. It withheld the remaining information in scope citing the FOIA exemptions in sections 35(1)(a) – the formulation or development of government policy, 35(1)(b) – Ministerial communications and 42(1) – legal professional privilege. The complainant said he was not concerned with the redacted personal information within the disclosed information, so the Commissioner has not further considered the MOJ’s reliance on section 40(2) of FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that the MOJ was entitled to rely on sections 35(1)(a) and (b) and 42(1) of FOIA in relation to the remaining withheld information for the reasons set out in this notice. No steps are required as a result of this notice.