Chief Minister emails relating to the public statement issued on the crisis in Gaza on the 22nd July 2025

​​​​​Request 733865514 

Dear FOI Officer,

I am writing to make a request under the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.

I would like to request the following information:

1. All emails in the inbox of the Chief Minister that relate to the public statement he issued on the crisis in Gaza on the 22nd July 2025. This should include emails both received and sent, covering a period of six months prior to the date of the statement’s publication.

2. All emails in the Chief Minister’s inbox relating to the letter he sent to the Foreign Secretary concerning the situation in Gaza, that he said he sent on the 22nd July 2025. This should also cover correspondence up to six months before the date the letter was sent.

3. Please provide any records (including emails, briefing notes, or internal and external memos) that identify who authored or contributed to drafting:

• The Chief Minister’s public statement on Gaza

• The letter to the Foreign Secretary

4. Finally, I would like to know whether any individuals not employed by the States of Jersey (to clarify, that’s anyone employed in the Public Sector), including those affiliated with non-governmental organisations (NGOs), advocacy groups, or external advisors/ unaffiliated individuals, were involved in drafting or advising on the content of the statement or the letter. If so, please provide:

• Their names

• The capacity in which they contributed

• Any correspondence relating to their input

If any part of this request is likely to be refused under exemptions or cost grounds, please advise on how it may be refined to fall within the limits of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 before a formal response to this FOI request is sent to me.

Response

1 and 2.

Correspondence has been reviewed, and information in scope of this request has been prepared for disclosure. Duplicate emails have been removed, and correspondence has been redacted in consideration of Freedom of Information legislation.

Freedom of Information response 733865514 - Attachment.pdf​

Redactions have been applied to remove the personal Information of individuals, including Government of Jersey employees below Tier 2, in accordance with Article 25 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.

Correspondence has also been redacted in accordance with Article 35 and Article 41 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.  

3.

The Scheduled Public Authority holds no further records in this regard; Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies. 

4.

A review of the correspondence indicates that no external individuals were involved in the drafting of the documentation. 

Articles applied 

Article 3 - Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –

(a)     it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b)     it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.

Article 25 - Personal information

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018.

(2) Information is absolutely exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is not the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018; and

(b) its supply to a member of the public would contravene any of the data protection principles, as defined in that Law.

Article 35 - Formulation and development of policies

Information is qualified exempt information if it relates to the formulation or development of any proposed policy by a public authority.

Public Interest Test 

In applying this article, the following considerations were taken into account.

Public interest considerations favouring disclosure

• disclosure of the information would support transparency and promote accountability to the general public, providing confirmation that the necessary discussions have taken place

Public interest considerations favouring withholding the information

• in order to best develop policy, officials and ministers need a safe space in which free and frank discussion can take place – discussion of how documentation is presented and provided is considered as integral to policy development as iterations of documents are demonstrative of the policy development process

The SPA – and indeed good government, requires the possible impact of any proposed documents to be reviewed, and for Ministers and officials to be able to discuss and test those proposed policies in a comprehensive way, such testing including analysis of the underlying work undertaken.

​Taking into account the various factors, the Scheduled Public Authority decided in favour of withholding the information. 

Article 41 -International relations

(1) Information is qualified exempt information if its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice relations between Jersey and –

(a) the United Kingdom;

(b) a State other than Jersey;

(c) an international organization; or

(d) an international court.

(2) Information is qualified exempt information if its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice –

(a) any Jersey interests abroad; or

(b) the promotion or protection by Jersey of any such interest.

(3) Information is also qualified exempt information if it is confidential information obtained from –

(a) a State other than Jersey;

(b) an international organization; or

(c) an international court.

(4) In this Article, information obtained from a State, organization or court is confidential while –

(a) the terms on which it was obtained require it to be held in confidence; or

(b) the circumstances in which it was obtained make it reasonable for the State, organization or court to expect that it will be so held.

(5) In this Article –

Public Interest Test 

The public interest in respect of Article 41 is weighted in favour of maintaining the exemption unless equally strong countervailing public interest arguments favour the disclosure of the information. It is recognised that there is a public interest in providing transparency about the island's network of international agreements and our relationships. 

However, having considered the public interest, the Scheduled Public Authority concluded that the public interest in disclosing this information at this time is outweighed by the public interest considerations in withholding the information. This is done in support of the Island's interests and to avoid any potential prejudice to the Island's relationships and international position, including avoiding a chilling effect around the development of these positions. ​​​