Image: Graham Hughes/Photocall Ireland! Image: Graham Hughes/Photocall Ireland! THE SUPREME COURT has heard that public bodies could no longer have to explain their reasons for refusing records under Freedom of Information laws if it does not overturn two rulings against the Information Commissioner.
The cases were heard after the Minister for Communications and University College Cork brought judicial reviews of decisions by the Commissioner, who carries out independent reviews of decisions taken by public bodies in relation to FOI requests. The Commissioner previously found that journalist Gavin Sheridan was entitled to receive the records, which he had sought under the FOI Act, because the public interest would be better served by releasing them.
In that ruling, Mr Justice Garrett Simons found that the Commissioner was wrong to take a “presumption in favour of disclosure” as the starting point of RTÉ’s appeal. She described members of the public seeking records as “ignorant parties” because they generally do not know what is contained in those records, and said that public bodies “hold all the cards” when deciding whether to grant or refuse access to them.
She also rejected a suggestion from Mr Justice Donal O’Donnell that nothing would stop the Commissioner from asking a public body to justify their refusal of records during the course of an appeal. Related Reads 03.06.19 'The public has a right to know': Is Ireland's Freedom of Information Act facing an existential crisis? 03.04.19 'The Freedom of Information Act is dead': High Court rules against Information Commissioner in UCC findingButler also contended that the exemptions outlined in the Act were not “self-executing”, and that human decisions are made when a release of information is refused.