Lownie v Information Commissioner and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: [2024] UKUT 116 (AAC)
Upper Tribunal Administrative Appeals Chamber decision by Judge Jacobs on 8 April 2024.
Read the full decision in .
Judicial Summary
This case concerns a request for information relating to Guy Burgess, a member of the Cambridge Five spy ring.
The Upper Tribunal has decided two issues:
First, information contained in a historical record is not in the Public Record Office for the purposes of section 64(1) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) until it has been formally accepted by a process of accessioning.
Second, the First-tier Tribunal was required under its rules of procedure to provide reasons in a way that protected the interests of national security and was right not to disclose whether it had relied on section 23 or section 24 FOIA.
A third issue relating to the Convention right under Article 10 was reserved for an application to the Court of Appeal, but was not argued.