The complainant submitted a request to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) seeking legal advice it had received as to whether Israel's treatment of Palestinians in Gaza constituted genocide. The FCDO withheld information in response to this request on the basis of sections 27(1)(a) and (b) (international relations), 35(1)(a) (formulation or development of government policy), 42(1) (legal professional privilege) and section 40(2) (personal data). The Commissioner’s decision is that the information falling within the scope of the request is exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 42(1) of FOIA and that the public interest favours maintaining the exemption. However, the Commissioner has also concluded that the FCDO breached section 17(1) by failing to respond to the request within 20 working days.