Page 262 - Law and the Media

Freedom of Information
Served upon, or by, the public authority for the purposes of such proceedings.
Which a court has created for the purpose of such proceedings for example bench
memoranda.

This exemption does not apply to any other information held by a public authority, even though
the information may relate to, and be deployed in connection with, court proceedings.

Parliamentary privilege
Section 34 of the FIA exempts information if disclosure would infringe the privileges of
either House of Parliament. The Speaker of the House of Commons and the Clerk of the
Parliaments in the House of Lords must sign certificates as conclusive evidence that the
exemption applies.

Prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs
Section 36 of the FIA exempts information held by the House of Commons and the House
of Lords which is not exempt by virtue of Section 35 of the Act concerning the formulation
of government policy regardless of public interest if the Speaker of the House of Commons
or the Clerk of the Parliaments in the House of Lords signs a certificate stating that in his
reasonable opinion disclosure could:

Prejudice the maintenance of the convention of collective ministerial
responsibility
Prejudice the work of the Executive Committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly
or the National Assembly for Wales
Inhibit the free and frank provision of advice or exchange of views
Otherwise prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs.

Personal information
Under Section 40 of the FIA a public authority can refuse to disclose personal information
without considering the public interest if the information relates to the applicant himself.
This is because the information is covered by the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998.
A public authority can also refuse to disclose personal information without considering the
public interest if the information concerns a third party and disclosure would breach one of
the data protection principles set out in Data Protection Act 1998, Schedule 1.

14.3.5 Applications for information

Application
There is no compulsory form. However, the request must be in writing. It can be made by
email. Any individual or organization may request information, regardless of the purpose of
the application. Although an applicant will have to identify himself for the purpose of the
application, the identity of the applicant is otherwise of no concern to a public authority
except in the case of vexatious or repeated requests.
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