Maurice Frankel

The coalition agreement between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, published today, promises an extension to the FOI Act. The relevant section states: 10. Civil liberties The parties agree to implement a full programme of measures to reverse the substantial erosion of civil liberties under the Labour government and roll back state intrusion. This will include: […]

A number of comments on other blogs have suggested that a prosecution could be brought under section 77 of the FOI Act even if it was more than 6 months after the offence had been committed. Section 127(1) of the Magistrates Court Act states that “a magistrates’ court shall not try an information or hear

The government has issued a second veto, preventing the disclosure of information under the FOI Act. This follows the veto in February 2009 of cabinet minutes relating to the war in Iraq. The present case involves a request to see the minutes of the 1997 meetings of the cabinet subcommittee on devolution in Scotland, Wales