R (Evans) v Attorney General

R (Evans) v Attorney General (Campaign for Freedom of Information intervening)[1] is a 2015 decision of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. It concerned a request for disclosure of communications passing between Charles, Prince of Wales and various government departments.

R (Evans) v Attorney General
CourtSupreme Court of the United Kingdom
Full case nameRegina (Evans) v Attorney General (Campaign for Freedom of Information intervening)
Decided26 March 2015
Citation(s)[2015] UKSC 21, [2015] 1 AC 1787[1]
Case history
Appealed fromR (Evans) v Attorney General, 2014, Court of Appeal[2]
Related action(s)
Court membership
Judges sitting

Procedural history

The case began with an application under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 by journalist Rob Evans. The government departments admitted that they had relevant letters, but "refused to disclose them on the ground that they considered the letters were exempt from disclosure under sections 37, 40 and/or 41". On appeal, the Upper Tribunal determined that "many of the letters, which they referred to as 'advocacy correspondence', should be disclosed".[1]:[3]

Rather than appealing the decision of the Upper Tribunal, the Attorney General issued a certificate under section 53(2) of the Freedom of Information Act, effectively overriding the decision of the Upper Tribunal. Evans sought judicial review of the Attorney General's decision to issue the certificate in the High Court.

A divisional court (Lord Judge LCJ, Davis LJ and Globe J) dismissed Evans' claim for judicial review. Evans successfully appealed to the Court of Appeal (Lord Dyson MR, Richards and Pitchford LJJ), which set aside the section 53(2) certificate. The Attorney General then appealed to the Supreme Court, which dismissed the appeal by 5–2 majority (Lord Wilson and Lord Hughes JJSC dissenting).

See also

References
  1. Regina (Evans) v Attorney General (Campaign for Freedom of Information intervening) [2015] UKSC 21, [2015] 1 AC 1787 (26 March 2015), Supreme Court.
  2. R (Evans) v Attorney General [2014] EWCA Civ 254, [2014] QB 855 (12 March 2014), Court of Appeal.
  3. R (Evans) v Attorney General [2013] EWHC 1960 (Admin), [2014] QB 855 (9 July 2013), High Court of Justice (Divisional Court).
  4. Evans v Information Commissioner [2012] UKUT 313 (AAC) (18 September 2012), Upper Tribunal.


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