Ministry of Justice (MoJ)
- Date 24 November 2025
- Sector Central government
- Decision(s) FOI 1: Upheld, FOI 43(2): Not upheld, FOI 17(1)(b): Upheld
The complainant made a request for information relating to spending. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) provided some information and withheld the remaining under section 43(2) (commercial interests) of FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that the MoJ is entitled to withhold the information in relation to the parts of the request it refused under section 43(2) of FOIA. However the MoJ has breached section 17(1)(b), because its refusal notice failed to specify its reliance on section 43(2). The Commissioner’s decision is that the MoJ breached section 1(1)(a) of FOIA as it did not provide all the information it held in regards to locations of refurbishment as requested by the complainant. The Commissioner has not considered whether this may be exempt from disclosure under section 43(2). The Commissioner requires the MoJ to take either provide the outstanding information held that is relevant to the request for “the locations of the rooms/areas that were redecorated” to the complainant, or issue a refusal notice that complies with section 17 of FOIA.