legal aid contrary interest exception

Summary

The requester asked for statistics and documents regarding the 'contrary interest exception' for disregarding partner resources in Legal Aid applications for financial years 2021/22 to 2023/24. The Treasury responded that the information is not held because this exemption is not currently part of the Legal Aid assessment process and has never been discussed or applied.

Key Facts

• The Treasury does not hold the requested information regarding the contrary interest exemption.
• The contrary interest exemption is not currently part of the Legal Aid application or appeal process.
• There have been zero successful or unsuccessful requests to disregard partner resources under this exemption.
• No meeting agendas, minutes, or correspondence exist regarding the inclusion of this exemption in the process.
• The request was refused under section 11(3)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015.

Data Disclosed

• 2021/22
• 2022/23
• 2023/24
• 2024-03-26
• 2024-04-18
• 3772701
• section 11(3)(a)

Exemptions Cited

• Section 11(3)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (Information not held)

Original Request

When assessing an applicant's financial eligibility to Legal Aid how many times has a request been received in (a) a legal aid application or (b) a legal aid appeal to properly to disregard a partners resources, if the partner is seeking a different outcome in the case to the applicant, under the contrary interest exemption. The amount is to be broken down into successful and unsuccessful requests. In addition to this please supply any meeting agendas, meeting minutes, assessments, file notes, reports, email threads, direct messages specifically related to the contrary interest exception/exemption. The time period for this information is for the financial years 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24 (to the date of the FoI request).

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Freedom of Information
Seyrsnys Fysseree

The Treasury Government Office,
Douglas Isle of Man, IM1 3PU

Telephone: (01624) 685605 Email: FOI.Treasury@gov.im

Government Website: www.gov.im

Our ref: 3772701 18 April 2024

Dear ###

We write further to your request received 26 March 2024, which states (numbering added by Treasury):

1. "When assessing an applicant's financial eligibility to Legal Aid how many times has a request been received in (a) a legal aid application or (b) a legal aid appeal to properly to disregard a partners resources, if the partner is seeking a different outcome in the case to the applicant, under the contrary interest exemption. The amount is to be broken down into successful and unsuccessful requests.

2. In addition to this please supply any meeting agendas, meeting minutes, assessments, file notes, reports, email threads, direct messages specifically related to the contrary interest exception/exemption.

The time period for this information is for the financial years 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24 (to the date of the FoI request)."

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Treasury does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find the information that you have requested. Therefore, as previously advised, we need to apply a practical refusal reason to your request under section 11(3)(a) of the Act (information not held). The reasons why this information is not held are explained below.

In relation to the first part of your request the contrary interest exemption is currently not part of the process when assessing an application to Legal Aid and therefore there has not been any successful or unsuccessful requests, at either the application or appeal stage, to disregard a partners resources.

Moving on to the second part of your request the contrary interest exemption has not been considered or discussed in terms of including it within the Legal Aid application

process, therefore there are no meeting agendas, meeting minutes, assessments, files notes, email threads, direct messages, etc. in relation to this.

Please quote the reference number 3772701 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.