General Registry
42 FOI requests | Full disclosure rate: 31.0%
The Freedom of Information requests to the Isle of Man General Registry reveal an authority in a state of transition, balancing modernization efforts with a notable absence of formal administrative policies. A recurring theme across cases 3844441, 3852710, and 4678437 is the lack of written strategies for critical judicial functions, including judgment publication, cost calculations, and fee refunds. The Registry consistently defers to 'Manx Law' or judicial discretion rather than providing documented guidelines, creating a transparency gap where the public cannot easily verify how decisions are standardized. This opacity is contrasted by significant disclosures regarding financial liabilities, such as the £7.1 million in outstanding fines (3751985) and the confirmed expenditure on the new Court Case Management System (5109889), which signals a push toward digital efficiency despite the lack of policy documentation.
Key Cases
Case 3751985 — Disclosed a staggering figure of £7,118,363.44 in outstanding criminal court fines, providing a critical metric for the financial health and enforcement efficacy of the Manx justice system.
Case 3852710 — Revealed that no formal written policy exists for the redaction and publication of judgments, confirming that 'open justice' is applied ad-hoc based on legal interpretation rather than transparent administrative strategy.
Case 5109889 — Confirmed the successful deployment of the new Court Case Management System (CCMS) in August 2025 and disclosed specific expenditure, marking a major milestone in the digital transformation of the courts.
Case 3994533 — Highlighted systemic data limitations; while some COVID sentencing data was provided, the Registry could not supply figures for the full period due to technical constraints, raising questions about the robustness of their record-keeping during the pandemic.
Case 4678669 — Clarified the legal basis for the 'no refund' policy on court fees, citing the 2025 Miscellaneous Fees Order, which directly addresses public concerns regarding the fairness of judicial financial procedures.
Related FOI Stories
Judicial Transparency and Policy Gaps — #3844441, #3817669, #3852710, #4678437, #4678669
Employment Tribunal Costs and Operations — #2486358, #3852709, #4384877, #4947866
Digital Modernization and IT Procurement — #5109889, #5190217, #3787922
Criminal Justice Statistics and Enforcement — #3751985, #3994533, #4787753, #5355885
Information Not Held vs. Exemptions — #544737, #4339573, #4764813, #4925821, #5235625
All (42)
Information not held (17) ·
All information sent (13) ·
Some information sent but part exempt (3) ·
Some information sent but not all held (3) ·
No information sent - all held but exempt (3) ·
Upheld - full (2) ·
Upheld - partial (1) ·
| Date | Title | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-03-05 | Mobile phone use on roads | All information sent |
| The requester asked for the number of prosecutions and fixed penalty notices for mobile phone use on roads under the Road Traffic Act 1985 over the last five years. The General Registry responded that the total number of such cases is 239. | ||
| 2026-01-20 | Courts of Justice Floorplan | Information not held |
| A request was made for a floorplan of the Isle of Man Courts of Justice building, but the General Registry refused to disclose it citing security and health exemptions under Section 36 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015. | ||
| 2025-12-22 | More information on ref 5109889 | Some information sent but not all held |
| The General Registry responded to a request for project documentation, decision points, cost-benefit analysis, efficiency metrics, and ticket statistics regarding reference 5109889. While two points were withdrawn due to lack of clarification and two were not held, the authority disclosed specific data on support ticket statuses. | ||
| 2025-11-25 | CCMS update | All information sent |
| The request sought confirmation of the introduction, cost, and functionality of the new Court Case Management System (CCMS). The General Registry confirmed the system went live in August 2025, disclosed specific expenditure figures, and affirmed its full functionality and modernization benefits. | ||
| 2025-10-07 | civil/family court user groups quarterly agendas and minutes | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| The requester sought quarterly agendas and minutes for Civil and Family Court User Groups from 2019 to date, but the General Registry withheld all information citing exemptions. | ||
| 2025-09-23 | Tribunal Cases Involving Manx Care Employees | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| The requester sought statistics and summaries of employment tribunal cases involving Manx Care employees from April 2020 to present. The General Registry refused to send the data directly, citing that the information is already reasonably accessible via a public register and online judgments. | ||
| 2025-09-10 | Amount of Manx land First Registered at Land Registry? | Information not held |
| A request was made to the General Registry for the percentage and hectare area of Isle of Man land that has been First Registered. The authority responded that the information is not held by them and directed the requester to the Land Registry. | ||
| 2025-07-30 | Public access to manx case law | All information sent |
| The requester inquired about public access to Isle of Man case law, specifically regarding responsibility, restrictions compared to legal professionals, and digitalization plans. The General Registry confirmed that the public has equal access to case law as legal professionals, with judgments available online since circa 2010 and earlier reports in the Tynwald Library. | ||
| 2025-07-10 | Prosecutions for parking tickets | All information sent |
| The requester asked the General Registry for statistics on prosecutions, convictions, fines, and acquittals related to non-payment of DOI parking tickets between 2019 and 2024. The authority responded that the answer to all questions was zero, indicating no such prosecutions occurred during the specified period. | ||
| 2025-06-30 | Powers of Court Small Claims Clerks | Information not held |
| The requester asked if Small Claims Clerks can issue High Court directions without a prior Court Order and requested statistics on how often this occurred in 2025. The General Registry clarified that clerks act under judicial instruction but stated they do not record the number of such emails sent. | ||
| 2025-06-30 | Temporary Advocate Licences | Information not held |
| A request was made for data on litigants in person successfully using foreign legal support without an Isle of Man advocate between 2016 and 2025. The General Registry responded that the information is not held and no further breakdown is available beyond the Annual Report. | ||
| 2025-05-27 | When and how did Midland Bank plc change its name to HSBC Bank plc | Information not held |
| 2025-05-21 | Advocates Fees Committee | Upheld - full |
| The requester asked for the last three Advocates Fees Committee meeting records and member details, but the General Registry only held and disclosed minutes from a single meeting in October 2024, stating other records were not held or could not be found. | ||
| 2025-05-21 | criminal and civil case costs policy and calculations formulas | Information not held |
| The requester asked for policies and calculation formulas regarding criminal and civil case costs, citing specific examples of perceived disparities. The General Registry responded that the information is not held because cost awards are judicial matters and no such policies or formulas exist. | ||
| 2025-05-21 | no refund policy | Upheld - full |
| The requester sought internal documents and meeting minutes to challenge the General Registry's no-refund policy for court fees, alleging it was unlawful and incompatible with human rights. The authority responded by citing the Courts and General Registry (Miscellaneous Fees) Order 2025, stating that fees are payable immediately and no provision exists for refunds as the work cannot be undone. | ||
| 2025-01-20 | Employment & Equality Tribunal - Neurodivergent Issues in Education | All information sent |
| The requester sought details on Employment & Equality Tribunal proceedings regarding neurodivergent discrimination against educational establishments and the Department of Education, Sport & Culture (DESC). The authority disclosed that one such complaint against DESC was recorded in 2024 and is currently in the early conciliation phase. | ||
| 2024-12-31 | Settlement Agreements | Information not held |
| The requester asked for statistics and a template regarding Settlement Agreements issued by the General Registry since September 2021. The authority responded that no such agreements have been issued and no template is held on file. | ||
| 2024-11-05 | Provision of Newspapers to Deemsters/Magistrates | Some information sent but not all held |
| A request for details on newspaper purchases for Deemsters and Magistrates was partially fulfilled, disclosing specific titles, quantities, and costs, while the reasons for providing physical copies were withheld as information not held. | ||
| 2024-07-18 | Covid sentences | Some information sent but not all held |
| The requester asked for statistics on non-custodial sentences (fines, community service, probation, and costs) for Coronavirus Regulation breaches between March 2020 and December 2022. The General Registry disclosed that 13 people were fined between March 2020 and July 2021 but refused to provide data for the remaining period or specific values due to system limitations. | ||
| 2024-05-14 | eet 20/152 tribunal member costs | All information sent |
| The request sought additional tribunal member costs for case 2020/152 since a previous FOI, and the General Registry disclosed an informal breakdown of preparation, attendance, and report writing costs for the Chair and Members for financial years 2022/2023 and 2023/2024. | ||
| 2024-05-14 | open justice legal principle | Information not held |
| The requester asked for policies governing the redaction and publication of judgments on the Isle of Man courts website. The General Registry responded that no such written policies or strategies exist, as publication decisions are based on the application of Manx Law and specific legislative safeguards rather than a formal document. | ||
| 2024-05-07 | income from printed copies of claims and judgments | Information not held |
| The requester asked for income statistics regarding printed and digital copies of claims and judgments, as well as policies on publishing judgments. The General Registry responded that it does not hold the specific financial data requested and confirmed that no formal policy documents exist regarding the open justice principle or publication percentages. | ||
| 2024-04-23 | iniquitous legal opinions issue | Information not held |
| The requester asked for information regarding tribunal arrangements to review alleged unlawful legal opinions from the Attorney General's Chambers. The General Registry refused the request, stating they do not hold the information and lack access to privileged legal advice. | ||
| 2024-04-09 | Lexis Nexis | Some information sent but part exempt |
| The requester sought details on a Lexis Nexis contract and reasons for alleged missing judgments; the General Registry disclosed a redacted 2017 contract while denying the existence of legislation services or reports on missing judgments. | ||
| 2024-03-18 | Outstanding fines | All information sent |
| A request was made to the General Registry for the total amount of outstanding unpaid criminal court fines as of March 18, 2024. The authority responded by disclosing the full figure of £7,118,363.44. | ||
| 2024-03-11 | joint meeting agendas, attachments and minutes (or filenotes) | Some information sent but part exempt |
| The request sought agendas, attachments, and minutes for bi-monthly meetings between the First Deemster and the Justice Minister from November 2021 onwards. The authority disclosed notes from three specific meetings in 2021 and 2022 but withheld further information citing Section 25 exemptions. | ||
| 2023-07-19 | Earystane & Scards, Sulby & Druidale | Information not held |
| 2023-06-28 | Appointments Commission correspondence | Information not held |
| 2023-06-27 | Non-custodial penalties for Covid Regulation breaches. | Upheld - partial |
| 2023-06-06 | Payments to Tribunal Members | All information sent |
| 2023-06-06 | Cannabis cases | Information not held |
| 2023-02-24 | Legal Aid (Amendment) Bill 2011 | Information not held |
| 2023-02-03 | mistrials and retrials in employment tribunals | Information not held |
| 2023-01-27 | Suicide & Misadventure Verdicts | All information sent |
| 2022-11-01 | tribunal member costs | All information sent |
| 2022-11-01 | Unpaid Fixed Penalties | All information sent |
| 2022-10-26 | Amicus Curiae lawyers appointed to cases | Information not held |
| 2022-10-17 | Wills Act 1984 section 26 will registration | All information sent |
| 2022-06-07 | Employment tribunal | Some information sent but part exempt |
| The request sought financial data on payments to Employment and Equality Tribunal members and average case costs since 2019. The General Registry disclosed total payments by financial year but refused to provide average or highest case costs due to the substantial compilation required. | ||
| 2018-08-03 | Owner-occupied residential property | Information not held |
| A request was made to determine the current percentage of owner-occupied residential property on the Isle of Man, but the General Registry responded that they do not hold this information. | ||
| 2018-03-26 | How many Men/Women take their own lives each year on the Isle of Man | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| A request was made for annual statistics on suicides by gender on the Isle of Man to support a charity initiative, but the authority refused to provide the data. | ||
| 2017-09-11 | Licencing Court request. | All information sent |
| The request sought a list of current alcohol licence holders and pending applications for the Isle of Man Licensing Court. The authority disclosed the current licence holder list and identified two specific pending applications scheduled for hearing in October 2017. | ||