Tag: Freedom of Information Act 2000
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Joe Tomlinson: Government as Skunk Works
The legislative programme of this Government has—unsurprisingly, given its widely stated reformist ambitions—attracted close attention from those interested in constitutional matters. Several bills have been introduced into this Parliament that have (rightly) been the subject of extensive commentary and interest in this respect, including the Judicial Review and Courts Bill, the Dissolution and Calling of…
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Robert Craig: The Fall-out from Evans: Positioning Roszkowski and Privacy International in a Post-Evans Constitutional Landscape (Part 2)
This post is in two parts. The first post (available here) addressed the detail of McCombe LJ’s judgment in Roszkowski v Secretary State for the Home Department (‘Roszkowski’) and in particular the impact of the differing judgments in R (Evans) v Attorney General (‘Evans’). This second post puts forward an alternative argument not canvassed in…
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Robert Craig: The Fall-out from Evans: Positioning Roszkowski and Privacy International in a Post-Evans Constitutional Landscape (Part 1)
Two recent Court of Appeal decisions raise some interesting constitutional questions about the status of Tribunals in the UK legal system. This post (in two parts) seeks to explore some of the implications and suggests that a key constitutional principle, the separation of powers, has once again been neglected. The two cases are Roszkowski v…
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Liz Fisher: A Decade in the Glasshouse
The UK Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) came fully into force on the 1 January 2005. There is thus now over a decade’s worth of law in relation to it. Yet, discussions of FOIA have remained marginal to administrative law. It tends to be only touched on in administrative law textbooks and any substantive…
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Judith Bannister: The Last Word on the Public Interest in FOI: Australia and the United Kingdom Compared
Freedom of information (FOI) reform has often been slow in Australia. There was a decade (and a change of government) between Gough Whitlam’s 1972 election promise of freedom of information and the passing of the Commonwealth’s Freedom of Information Act in 1982. There were 15 years between the recommendation of the Australian Law Reform Commission and Administrative Review Council to create…
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![Alison Young: R (Evans) v Attorney General [2015] UKSC 21 – the Anisminic of the 21st Century?](https://ukconstitutionallaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/young_alison-l2.jpg)
Alison Young: R (Evans) v Attorney General [2015] UKSC 21 – the Anisminic of the 21st Century?
On Thursday 26th March the Supreme Court concluded, to the delight of The Guardian and the dismay of the Prime Minister, that communications between Prince Charles and government Ministers – the so-called ‘black spider memos’ – should be released. This has been a long saga, involving issues of freedom of information, discussion of constitutional conventions…
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Mike Gordon: Prince Charles’ Correspondence Back in Court – Reflections on R. (Evans) v. Attorney General
The Administrative Court is the latest body to become involved in the on-going saga related to disclosure of the Prince of Wales’ correspondence with government departments. In the recent case of R. (Evans) v. Attorney General [2013] EWHC 1960 (Admin), the Guardian journalist Rob Evans challenged the legality of the government’s decision to veto disclosure…
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Roger Masterman: The Prince, the Attorney-General, the Section 53 Certificate and the pretence of political neutrality
The Freedom of Information Act, which came into force on 1 January 2005, provides under s.53 for a power of ministerial veto. Section 53(2) provides that: ‘[a] decision notice or enforcement notice … shall cease to have effect if, not later than the twentieth working day following the effective date, the accountable person in relation…
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Hayley J. Hooper: Keep Calm and Carry On?
ON SEPTEMBER 18, 2012 the Upper Tribunal allowed an appeal, reversing decisions of the Information Commissioner relating to the release of “advocacy correspondence” between Prince Charles in his capacity as Heir to the Throne, and seven government departments. The information was originally requested by Guardian journalist Rob Evans and related to a time period between…