Key Facts
- •Nockolds Solicitors (Appellant) requested information from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regarding data used in a noise assessment at Stansted Airport.
- •The CAA refused the request, citing exceptions under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR).
- •The Information Commissioner upheld the CAA's refusal, citing legal professional privilege (LPP).
- •The Appellant appealed to the First-tier Tribunal (FTT).
- •The information sought related to data provided by Stansted Airport Ltd (STAL) to the CAA for a noise assessment conducted in 2016/17.
- •STAL had commissioned this assessment in the context of numerous compensation claims under the Land Compensation Act 1973.
Legal Principles
Exceptions to the duty to disclose environmental information under EIR, specifically regulation 12(5)(b) (adversely affecting the course of justice).
Environmental Information Regulations 2004
Legal Professional Privilege (LPP), including litigation privilege, and its application under EIR.
Various case laws cited including DCLG v IC [2012] UKUT 103 (AAC), Bellamy v the Information Commissioner (EA/2005/0023), DBERR v O’Brien v IC [2009] EWHC 164 QB, Corderoy and Ahmed v Information Commissioner [2017] UKUT 495 (AAC), and Montague v Information Commissioner [2022] UKUT 104 (AAC)
Public interest test in balancing disclosure against maintaining exceptions under EIR.
Environmental Information Regulations 2004, regulation 12(1)(b)
Outcomes
The appeal was dismissed.
The Tribunal found that the information was covered by litigation privilege and that the public interest in maintaining the privilege outweighed the public interest in disclosure.