FAQ Details
Unnatural Sexual Offences - 165/10
Dated: 07 Jun 2011
Date of request: 13/03/2010
Date of response: 31/03/2010
Provision of information held by Northumbria Police made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the 'Act')(FOIA)
Thank you for your email dated 13 March 2010 in which you made a request for access to certain information which may be held by Northumbria Police.
As you may be aware the purpose of the Act is to allow a general right of access to information held by a Public Authority (including the Police), subject to certain limitations and exemptions.
You asked:
In the calendar years 2009 and 2008 how many offences were recorded under Home Office offence codes 88/3 (Unnatural Sexual Offences Intercourse with an animal by a male) and 88/4 (Unnatural Sexual Offences Intercourse with an animal by a female).
Please detail each case including:
if a person was charged, identify the person charged with offence (first and surname, address, and date of birth) and result of the court case, including plea, verdict and sentence
identify species of animal concerned
state the date and location of the offence (for location, please be specific)
if person received another sanction without charge (for example a caution) please state the type of sanction.
In response:
We have now had the opportunity to fully consider your request and I provide a response for your attention.
We shall not be providing the information requested and by withholding we shall rely on the following exemptions:-
Section 40 - Personal Information
Any information to which a request for information relates is also exempt information if -
- it constitutes personal data which do not fall within subsection (1), and
- either the first or the second condition below is satisfied.
The first condition is -
- in a case where the information falls within any of paragraphs (a) to (d) of the definition of “data” in section 1(1) of the [1998 c. 29.] Data Protection Act 1998, that the disclosure of the information to a member of the public otherwise than under this Act would contravene -
- any of the data protection principles, or
- section 10 of that Act (right to prevent processing likely to cause damage or distress), and
- in any other case, that the disclosure of the information to a member of the public otherwise than under this Act would contravene any of the data protection principles if the exemptions in section 33A(1) of the [1998 c. 29.] Data Protection Act 1998 (which relate to manual data held by public authorities) were disregarded.
Section 40 is a classed based, absolute exemption and therefore there is no need to explain the public interest considerations in this area.
- in a case where the information falls within any of paragraphs (a) to (d) of the definition of “data” in section 1(1) of the [1998 c. 29.] Data Protection Act 1998, that the disclosure of the information to a member of the public otherwise than under this Act would contravene -
Section 30 of the Act (Investigations & Proceedings by Public Authorities)
Section 30 of the Act (Investigations & Proceedings by Public Authorities) states that information is exempt information if it has at any time been held for the purposes of any investigation. This exemption is a qualified and class based exemption and accordingly Northumbria Police does not need to carry out a harm test for this exemption.
As section 30 is a qualified exemption the application of a public interest test is required and I have set this out below.
Public Interest Test
For Disclosure:
Accountability
Disclosure of information about how Northumbria Police conducts its functions could enhance the accountability of the Force and its individual officers in the performance of their respective duties.
Public Awareness and Debate
Disclosure of information about issues of concern can assist individuals to make informed decisions on issues that are relevant to them. The community at large may benefit from disclosure as this may encourage accurate and informed public debate. It would also correct rumour and speculation and provide confidence in the Force's ability to investigate any alleged offences.
Against Disclosure:
Investigations
It is the Association of Chief Officers (ACPO) view that information relating to investigations will rarely be disclosed under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Whilst such information may be released in order to serve a core policing purpose (ie, to protect life and property and/or assist in prevention and detection of crime and/or in the apprehension and prosecution of offenders), it will only be disclosed if there are strong public interest considerations favouring disclosure. The further the considerations favouring disclosure are from a tangible community benefit, the lighter the considerations will be. It is my view that disclosure could undermine any ongoing and future investigations and potentially cause damage to the criminal justice process.
Human Rights, Morals and Ethics
Northumbria Police has a duty to ensure all investigations are dealt with fairly and equally. It is important that any investigation is conducted with regard to confidentiality and privacy. The public interest would not be served if a disclosure breaches the obligations placed on an authority under the European Convention on Human Rights, particularly the right to life, fair trial and privacy.
Efficient and Effective Conduct of the Service
The current or future law enforcement function of the Police Service would be undermined or compromised by release of the requested information. Disclosure would prejudice future effective investigations and would cause damage to the service and the community.
Flow of Information to the Service
It is in the public interest that members of the public are not inhibited in any way from providing information to Northumbria Police. The public need to retain confidence in the Force in order to allow us to gather information and perform our public service function.
Balancing Test
When considering applications under the Freedom of information Act, information should be disclosed unless the reasoned application of the exemptions and public interest considerations favours non-disclosure. I have analysed the competing arguments and weighed up the community benefit and opportunity for debate that disclosure of this information may provide. However, I consider that the release of information which relates to ongoing investigations would have a huge impact on the ability of Northumbria police to conduct effective investigations in the future. We must seek to protect our core policing function and not disclose information which could potentially undermine the whole criminal justice process. In this case the public interest is significantly weaker whilst the investigations are still ongoing.
In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, you should consider this a refusal for your request.
The information we have supplied to you is likely to contain intellectual property rights of Northumbria Police. Your use of the information must be strictly in accordance with the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) or such other applicable legislation. In particular, you must not re-use this information for any commercial purpose.
How to complain
If you are unhappy with our decision or do not consider that we have handled your request properly and we are unable to resolve this issue informally, you are entitled to make a formal complaint to us under our complaints procedure which can be found at: http://www.northumbria.police.uk/foi/disclosurelog/foicomprights.asp
If you are still unhappy after we have investigated your complaint and reported to you the outcome, you may complain directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office and request that they investigate to ascertain whether we have dealt with your request in accordance with the Act.