The Freedom of Information laws all roughly follow the same process, although there are some subtle differences:
- you make an information request to a public authority
- the authority can ask you to clarify this
- under certain circumstances, the authority may ask you to pay a fee to cover printing and postage or other costs
- you wait for them to answer back within a certain time period
- the authority will either send you the information you ask or will refuse to send it, claiming one or more exemptions that are allowed to them under the laws.
- for refusals, you can make an appeal to the authority to get them to reconsider the exemptions
- if this is still unsuccessful, you can apply to the Information Commissioner (or the Scottish Information Commissioner) for a decision on the matter
- if this is still unsuccessful, you can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights) (or the Court of Session for Scotland's FOI laws)