Route to freedom

The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 is an important piece of legislation, affording members of the public a means to access information held by Scottish public authorities. The Court of Session recently issued an important judgment, Glasgow City Council and Dundee City Council v Scottish Information Commissioner [2009] CSIH 73 (30 September 2009), which found in favour of two councils (Glasgow and Dundee) who had been subject to information requests from a firm of solicitors under s 8 of the Act. While this case may have involved two local councils, the concept of a Scottish public authority is not restricted to these entities. The term encompasses disparate bodies such as health boards, the Crofters Commission and indeed the body that passed the Act itself, the Scottish Parliament, to name but a few, so the judgment’s importance should not be understated.