Letters between External Relations, and the UK Ministry of Justice

Summary

A request for correspondence between the Isle of Man Cabinet Office and the UK Ministry of Justice regarding the Assisted Dying Bill was refused as all information was held but exempt under international relations provisions. While the specific letters were withheld, the authority provided links to a summary letter to Tynwald Members and upcoming Hansard records as an alternative.

Key Facts

• The request covered correspondence since February 2025 regarding the Assisted Dying Bill.
• Information was withheld under section 29(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015.
• The exemption was applied because disclosure would likely prejudice relations between the Isle of Man and the UK.
• The public interest test concluded that maintaining trust and confidence in external relations outweighed the public interest in disclosure.
• A summary of substantive issues was published with permission from the UK Ministry of Justice.

Data Disclosed

• 5275113
• 2026-02-03
• 2026-03-02
• February 2025
• 10 February 2026
• section 29(1)(a)
• Freedom of Information Act 2015

Exemptions Cited

• Section 29(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (Prejudice to relations between the Island and the United Kingdom)

Original Request

To provide any correspondence between External Relations, The Cabinet Office and the UK Ministry of Justice regarding the Assisted Dying Bill since February 2025.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Government Office Douglas Isle of Man IM1 3PN Telephone: (+44) 01624 686244
Website: www.gov.im/co

Our ref: 5275113 2 March 2026

Dear ###

We write further to your request, received 3 February 2026, which states:

"To provide any correspondence between External Relations, The Cabinet Office and the UK Ministry of Justice regarding the Assisted Dying Bill since February 2025."

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the information is exempt from disclosure under section 29(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (the Act) as disclosure would be likely to prejudice relations between the Island and the United Kingdom.

Section 29(1) states: 'Information is qualified exempt information if its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice relations between the Island and ' (a) the United Kingdom; (b) any other State; (c) an international organisation; (d) or an international court.'

As section 29 is a qualified exemption, it is subject to a public interest test. The public interest must be something that is of serious concern and benefit to the public at large.

Factors in favour of disclosure • Disclosing the correspondence would show support for the Isle of Man Government's commitment to transparency and public accountability.
• The correspondence relates to the functioning of the Royal Assent process for Isle of Man Bills, which is an important topic for the public to understand and
engage with.

Factors in favour of withholding • Royal Assent is a Crown prerogative process.
• The effective conduct of the Island's external relations depends on maintaining trust and confidence between the Isle of Man and UK Governments. This
trust and confidence allows for an environment conducive to the free and frank exchange of views, advice and information. This trust and confidence would be compromised by the release of the information.
2 • The UK Government is expected to exercise an automatic duty of confidence in its communications with non-UK governments or external partners in line
with UK government policy on the keeping of such information, referred to as information assets.
• The UK Government did not disclose the correspondence between the Ministry of Justice and the Isle of Man Government when it was requested under the UK's Freedom of Information Act 2015, relying on the equivalent international relations qualified exemption.

In taking these factors into account the Cabinet Office determined that the factors in favour of maintaining the exemption outweigh the factors in favour of disclosing the information.

Duty to provide advice and assistance:

By way of assistance, exceptionally in this case, given the interest of Tynwald Members and questions to the Chief Minister in the House of Keys, the permission of the Ministry of Justice was sought and obtained for the Minister of Health and Social Care to set out a summary of the substantive issues and questions that had been raised about the Bill in a letter to Tynwald Members. That letter has been published at: https://www.tynwald.org.im/spfile?file=/business/bills/Bills/20260209_Assisted_Dying_ Bill_2023-Letter_to_Tynwald_Members.pdf

In addition, the Chief Minister's response to the oral questions in the House of Keys on 10 February 2026 will be published in the Official Report (Hansard) on the Tynwald website in due course at: https://www.tynwald.org.im/business/hansard

It may be noted that the Ministry of Justice does not routinely publish its responses, although the recipient of a response may choose to do so (for example if the request was from a journalist). The MoJ response to the request under the UK Freedom of Information Act relating to the Assisted Dying Bill was, however, reported in a number of media outlets, for example: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home- news/ministry-of-justice-isle-of-man-british-government-government-lord-chancellor- b2902898.html .

Please quote the reference number 5275113 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.

3 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.

Freedom of Information Coordinator