The Freedom of Information Act enables the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs to issue a Code of Practice, this:
It is recommended that Departments put in place an internal review process for handling possible challenges to decisions refusing to disclose the information requested.
The internal review process should be the first stage for an applicant wishing to challenge a refusal to confirm whether or not the information is held.
It you refuse an applicant's request for information it should be explained from the outset that the applicant has the ability to appeal against the decision to both:
The Information Commissioner has responsibility for the overall supervision of the FOI Act.
In any access to information regime there is scope for disagreement between the applicant and a public authority on the outcome of a request. These disagreements may be about:
The Information Commissioner is in the first instance the formal arbiter in these disputes, once the internal review process has been completed.
The Commissioner can either determine that a public authority has complied with the Act or require that further action is taken to comply with the Act:
Both the applicant and the public authority have a right to appeal against the Information Commissioner's decisions.
Section 53 of the FOI Act provides a mechanism by which, once the Information Commissioner has issued a decision notice or an enforcement notice, a Cabinet-ranking Minister can certify that he or she has formed a reasonable opinion that, contrary to the view of the Information Commissioner, the balance of the public interest in a qualified exemption comes down in favour of withholding information.
This power does not arise until the Commissioner has begun to take formal enforcement procedure measures and it is a step which will always be taken only after careful consideration of its wider implications.
In particular: