Page 264 - Law and the Media

Freedom of Information
dissatisfied, he may apply to the Information Commissioner. The Information Commissioner
is required to make a decision unless the applicant:

Has not exhausted the authority’s own complaints system
Has delayed too long before complaining
Is vexatious or frivolous
Withdraws or abandons the complaint.

Following his decision, the Information Commissioner may serve one or more types of
notice.

Decision notice
Under Section 50 of the FIA the Information Commissioner may issue a decision notice. A
decision notice states that the Information Commissioner has made a decision concerning the
complaint, and sets out steps the applicant or the public authority must follow in order to
comply with the FIA.

Information notice
Under Section 51 of the FIA the Information Commissioner may serve an information notice.
An information notice enables the Information Commissioner to obtain the information from
a public authority, including unrecorded information he requires in order to deal with a
complaint or to reach a determination on whether an authority has complied with the FIA.
The Information Commissioner can specify the time for the authority to comply with the
request and the form in which the information should be provided.

Enforcement notice
Under Section 52 of the FIA the Information Commissioner may serve an enforcement
notice on a public authority if the public authority has failed to comply with any of the
requirements of the FIA. The notice requires the authority to take such steps within a
specified time as may be specified in order to comply with the requirements of the FIA. For
example, the notice can require the disclosure of certain information in the public
interest.

When serving a notice, the Information Commissioner must explain the appeals mechanism.
Notices can be appealed to the Information Tribunal. The decision of the Information
Tribunal can be appealed to the High Court.

Under Section 53 of the FIA, notices are subject to ‘executive override’. This means that a
Cabinet Minister may sign a ministerial certificate, which overrides the Information
Commissioner’s notice. In order to obtain executive override of a notice, a public authority
must obtain a certificate from the minister within 20 days of receipt of the notice. There is
no right of appeal against a ministerial certificate.

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