joint insurance scheme and corruption

Summary

The requester asked the Attorney General's Chambers about concerns regarding the Isle of Man Law Society's compulsory insurance policy potentially discouraging whistleblowing and contradicting corruption definitions. The authority responded that it does not hold the requested information and confirmed that no such concerns have been notified to the Attorney General.

Key Facts

• The Attorney General's Chambers does not hold the information requested regarding the Law Society's insurance policy.
• HM Attorney General has not been notified of any concerns about the insurance scheme disincentivizing whistleblowing.
• The request was refused under section 11(3)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015.
• Issues pertaining to the indemnity insurance scheme were previously considered by the High Court.
• The response provided links to two High Court judgments related to the matter.

Data Disclosed

• 2021-06-24
• 2021-07-09
• 1858626
• s11(3)(a)
• 4337
• 4339

Exemptions Cited

• s11(3)(a) - Information not held

Original Request

To what extent has HM Attorney General received any concerns or already identified issues on the Isle of Man Law Society compulsory members professional indemnity policy with the clear disincentive to report any wrongdoing by peers in the legal system because whistleblowers insurance premiums will increase as a consequence given the mechanism contradicts the case law definition of corruption in the Mount Murray public inquiry and to what extent has the HM Attorney General considered a ban on such an arrangement in the public interest to uphold the perceived professionalism of a legal system willing to root out unethical actions and inactions?

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Attorney General's Chambers 2nd floor Belgravia House Circular Road, Douglas Isle of Man, IM1 1AE Telephone: (01624) 685452 E-mail: attgen@gov.im

Our ref: 1858626 9 July 2021

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 24 June 2021 and which states:

"To what extent has HM Attorney General received any concerns or already identified issues on the Isle of Man Law Society compulsory members professional indemnity policy with the clear disincentive to report any wrongdoing by peers in the legal system because whistleblowers insurance premiums will increase as a consequence given the mechanism contradicts the case law definition of corruption in the Mount Murray public inquiry and to what extent has the HM Attorney General considered a ban on such an arrangement in the public interest to uphold the perceived professionalism of a legal system willing to root out unethical actions and inactions?"

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Attorney General’s Chambers under s11(3)(a) applies a practical refusal reason to your request. This is because the Attorney General’s Chambers does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find the information that you have requested. I am able to confirm that HM Attorney General has not been notified of any concerns of the kind you mention. For your information, issues pertaining to the Isle of Man Law Society’s indemnity insurance scheme were considered by the High Court in its judgments reported at: https://www.judgments.im/content/print.mth?contentdocumentversionid=4337 and https://www.judgments.im/content/print.mth?contentdocumentversionid=4339.

Please quote the reference number 1858626 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.