FOIA Section 34 Exemption

Section 34: Parliamentary Privilege

Section 34 applies to information whose exemption is required in order to avoid an infringement of the privileges of either House of Parliament. The purpose of section 34 is to preserve Parliamentary privilege and protect the position of Parliament.

Key points

• Section 34 will need to be considered where a public authority is required to lay information before Parliament before disclosing it to anyone else.
• If privileged information has been published by Parliament then section 34 will not apply: exemption is not required in order to avoid an infringement of Parliamentary privilege.
• Section 34(3) enables the Parliamentary authorities to conclusively certify that section 34 applies. Departments are strongly advised to consult officials from the relevant House before relying on section 34 and to obtain a certificate where necessary.
• Section 34 is not subject to any public interest test balance.

What the law says

34 Parliamentary privilege

(1) Information is exempt information if exemption from section 1(1)(b) is required for the purpose of avoiding an infringement of the privileges of either House of Parliament.

(2) The duty to confirm or deny does not apply if, or to the extent that, exemption from section 1(1)(a) is required for the purpose of avoiding an infringement of the privileges of either House of Parliament.

(3) A certificate signed by the appropriate authority certifying that exemption from section 1(1)(b), or from section 1(1)(a) and (b), is, or at any time was, required for the purpose of avoiding an infringement of the privileges of either House of Parliament shall be conclusive evidence of that fact.

(4) In subsection (3) “the appropriate authority” means—

(a) in relation to the House of Commons, the Speaker of that House, and

(b) in relation to the House of Lords, the Clerk of the Parliaments.

Decision Notices

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