Vexatious

Vexatious and Repeated Requests

• ICO guidance on vexatious requests "Awareness Guidance 22": http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/freedom_of_information/detailed_specialist_guides/awareness_guidance_22_vexatious_and_repeated_requests_final.pdf
• MoJ guidance: http://www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/foi-procedural-vexatious.htm

Relevant legislation sections:

• Section 14(1) or (2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for vexatious or repeated requests
• Section 14(1) or (2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 for vexatious or repeated requests

http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/ScottishPublicAuthorities/RespondingtoaRequest/InformationResponseStep5.asp and http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/Law/FOISA-EIRsGuidance/Section14/Section14Overview.asp

• Environmental Information Regulations have provisions for refusing to answer "manifestly unreasonable" requests which are equivalent.
• In Scotland these are regulations 10(4)(b) & (c): Scottish public authorities may refuse requests for environmental information that are manifestly unreasonable, while regulation 10(4)(c) justifies refusal where requests are formulated in too general a manner.
• In the rest of the UK, this is regulation 12(4)(b) - "[where] the request for information is manifestly unreasonable;" http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/opengov/eir/guidance/full-guidance/pdf/guidance-7.pdf
• Regulation 12(4)(b) of the EIR is also used as an exemption for the that would usually exceed the approved limits in terms of cost of information retrieval.

• Relevant Information Commissioner decision notices:

• http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/decisionnotices/2006/decision_notice_fs50078594.pdf - the most important case, which lead to the production of Awareness Guidance 22 (listed above)
• http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/decisionnotices/2007/fs_50117259.pdf - making "repeated" requests (which can be considered as vexatious) to more than one public authority cannot be aggregated to be considered as vexatious under 14(2)
• Most appeals about refusals to requests as being vexatious to the ICO are not upheld... The ICO uses Awareness Guidance 22 as its main guide.
• No relevant decision notices for EIR

• Relevant Information Tribunal cases: all appeals on Section 14 have been dismissed.

• Relevant Scottish Information Commissioner Decisions: numbers 063/2005 Macroberts and Caledonian MacBrayne Limited (29/11/05) and Decision 062/2005 Macroberts and the Scottish Executive (29/11/ 2005).