Kennedy v Charity Commission
[2014] UKSC 20
Independent editorial summary — not the official judgment. Read the full judgment via the source link.
Ratio Decidendi
The absolute exemption in section 32(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, for documents held for the purposes of a statutory inquiry, is determined by the historical purpose for which the material was created or held and so continues to apply after the inquiry ends; this does not, however, preclude disclosure being sought through the separate statutory or common law mechanisms that govern the public body's own functions.
Facts
Times journalist Dominic Kennedy sought disclosure from the Charity Commission of documents relating to its three inquiries into the Mariam Appeal, a charity founded by MP George Galloway in 1998 and operated until 2003, whose funds the Commission found had in part been used, and received, in ways going beyond its stated charitable purpose. The Commission refused disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, relying on the absolute exemption in section 32(2) for material held for the purposes of a statutory inquiry.
Judgment Summary
The Supreme Court held that the section 32(2) exemption, which covers documents placed in the Charity Commission's custody or created by it for the purposes of a statutory inquiry, is assessed by reference to the historical purpose for which the documents were created or held, so it continues to apply even after the inquiry has concluded. The majority went on to consider whether a common law duty of transparency, informed by Article 10 of the Convention, could nonetheless require disclosure through mechanisms outside the FOIA scheme.
Key Quotes
"In the present case, the meaning and significance which I attach to the provisions of the Charities Act is in my view underpinned by a common law presumption in favour of openness in a context such as the present."
— Lord Mance(verbatim, verified against the judgment)
Subsequent Treatment
Cited in subsequent FOI and common law transparency cases.
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