Times loss

A journalist for The Times has lost his Supreme Court case to force the Charity Commission to release documents relating to an inquiry into George Galloway MP’s Mariam Appeal charity. 

The Mariam Appeal was launched by Galloway in 1998 following the imposition of sanctions against Iraq. The Commission’s inquiry took place in 2003-2004.

Kennedy v Charity Commission [2014] UKSC 20 concerned the question of whether the fact documents held by a public authority pursuant to an inquiry are statutorily exempt from Freedom of Information Act requests for 30 years after the inquiry, is a breach of Art 10(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Justices dismissed Kennedy’s appeal, since an absolute exemption from disclosure existed as a matter of ordinary statutory construction.

David White, solicitor, IP and commercial, Rollits, says: “Interestingly, both Lord Wilson and Lord Carnwath stated that Mr Kennedy had a right to receive the requested information pursuant to his right to freedom of expression under Art 10 of the ECHR. 

“Furthermore, they held that the absolute exemption granted by s 32(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 should be read so that it expires at the end of the relevant inquiry rather than expiring 30 years following the completion of the inquiry. In my view, if the position of Lords Wilson and Carnwarth were upheld, public inquiries would be subject to earlier scrutiny and comment leading, potentially, to greater openness and transparency on public authorities.  

“This surely reflects the overall intention behind freedom of information. If this had been the prevailing view, however, it could have had a chilling effect on the effective conduct of inquiries. It could have caused a reluctance by third parties to be forthcoming in the provision of full information to a public authority conducting an inquiry, the irony being that such a chilling effect has the potential to reduce the very transparency FOIA seeks to uphold.”