Request
Please may I have a copy of the report, or the information contained in the report, prepared for the Corporate Services Panel by Mr Richard Law in relation to the Panel’s investigation into the Jersey International Finance Centre?
Response
The information requested is deemed to be absolutely exempt under the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 and is therefore not disclosable.
Exemption
Freedom of Information exemption applied;
Article 28 States Assembly privileges
(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if exemption from the obligation to disclose it under this Law is required to avoid an infringement of the privileges of the States Assembly.
(2) Except as provided by paragraph (3), a certificate signed by the Greffier of the States certifying that exemption is required to avoid an infringement of the privileges of the States Assembly is conclusive evidence of that fact.
(3) A person aggrieved by the decision of the Greffier of the States to issue a certificate under paragraph (2) may appeal to the Royal Court on the grounds that the Greffier did not have reasonable grounds for issuing the certificate.
(4) The decision of the Royal Court on the appeal shall be final.
Justification for exemption
Parliamentary privilege is a form of immunity which is necessary for a parliament to function independently, without external interference.
The information requested was generated during the course of a review undertaken on behalf of the Scrutiny function of the States Assembly and its disclosure would therefore be an infringement of the privileges of the States Assembly.
A certificate of absolute exemption signed by the Greffier of the States was issued.
This response has been issued on behalf of the States Greffe. The States Greffe is responsible for the information held by (and on behalf of) both itself and the States Assembly. Neither the States Assembly nor the States Greffe form part of the Government of Jersey and the Government was not involved either in the examination and retrieval of any information required for this response, nor in the drafting of the response itself.
