Judgment has recently been handed down in the case of Greenwood v Information Commissioner and Cabinet Office [2026] UKFTT 1080 (GRC), in which Paul Mertens acted for the Cabinet Office. The appeal related to a request for information about whether any current ministers (at the time of the request) had, during the course of their appointment process, declared a criminal conviction, and, if so, how many.
By a majority, the Tribunal (Judge Cragg KC with Tribunal Members Edwards and Pepperell) ruled in the Information Commissioner and Cabinet Office’s favour, upholding the Cabinet Office’s reliance on section 40(5B)(a)(i) FOIA, which disapplies the duty to confirm or deny whether the requested information is held, where such confirmation or denial would contravene the data protection principles set out in the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018. The Tribunal also upheld the Cabinet Office’s reliance on section 36(3) FOIA, which disapplies the duty to confirm or deny whether the requested information is held, where to do so would, or would be likely to, prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs.
Paul Mertens is a member of the Attorney General’s London A Panel and Panel of Special Advocates. He is regularly instructed to act in proceedings involving the government in his areas of expertise, which include public inquiries, information rights claims and appeals, and national security proceedings.
