Vexatious and irresponsible questions (BBC)
I know from personal experience that making freedom of information requests to public authorities is something they sometimes find irritating - but at what point does it become vexatious or irresponsible? This question is raised by some recent rulings on what constitutes legitimate use of the Freedom of Information Act. The complainant is clearly concerned about the effectiveness of local authority complaints procedures, having submitted hundreds of FOI applications on the topic to various authorities. However the commissioner found his arguments "unconvincing" and "not considered to be properly anchored in sound evidence", concluding that the "the request could fairly be considered obsessive and manifestly unreasonable" and was therefore vexatious. Under the FOI Act, a request can be refused if it's vexatious, but this has to be an issue about the request itself, not the person making it. Just because you are a really annoying person is not sufficient grounds for turning down your freedom of information applications. FULL ARTICLE http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/opensecrets/2009/07/vexatious_and_irresponsible_qu.html Vexatious and irresponsible questions
In a decision published last week, the information commissioner determined that the local government ombudsman was right to dismiss an FOI request as 'vexatious'. This was the 48th request in a series made to the LGO by one individual in a six-month period.
Posts
