Issue

Whether, in initially failing to provide copies of certain restricted papers scheduled for discussion by the main board of the Law Society to Sue Nelson, a council member, the Society had infringed her rights under its freedom of information code.

Background

On Friday, 25 November 2003 Sue Nelson, a Law Society Council member, received from the Society the agenda for the main board meeting, which was to take place on Wednesday of the following week.

Five of the papers scheduled for consideration at that meeting had been designated under the code as being for restricted disclosure.

Of those, four items were marked on the agenda as being 'attached for main board members only' and were not included in the pack supplied to Ms Nelson who is not a member of the main board.

That evening in an e-mail timed 7.22pm Ms Nelson asked the council and board administration manager at the Law Society to send her electronic copies of three of the missing papers and she enquired why they had not been made available on Committeenet.

On the evening of Sunday, 2 November, Ms Nelson e-mailed the freedom of information adjudicator to ask for a 'ruling on the application of the Law Society's freedom of information code' in the light of the circumstances.

On Monday, 3 November, the council and board administration manager acknowledged receipt of Ms Nelson's e-mail, promising to send her the papers and make them available on Committeenet.

Ninety minutes later (in an e-mail timed at 10.58am) he sent her the papers she had requested.

Summary

The Law Society's failure to enclose certain restricted disclosure papers to Ms Nelson along with the other main board papers inconve-nienced her, but it did not breach the code because the Society responded promptly to her subsequent request for the missing papers, and nor did it amount to a denial of access to information.

The Society accepts that it made administrative errors and says it has reviewed its procedures to prevent similar mistakes in future.

The council was advised to consider whether council members routinely wishing to exercise their rights to receive main board papers designated as restricted disclosure under section B.3 of the code need be subject to the general requirement under section G to make a written request to the chief executive on each occasion, or whether they should be able to lodge a standing request.

- Issued by Richard Ayre, Law Society freedom of information adjudicator, on 31 November 2003.

Copies of the full adjudication are available from Bob Stanley, the Society's information compliance manager, tel: 020 7320 5629; fax: 020 7316 5766; e-mail: bob.stanley@lawsociety.org.uk.