FOI 13-24: Public Office of The Director of the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland

Our Ref: FoI 13-24

4 March 2024

 

Freedom of Information Act 2000 

On 20 February 2024 you requested information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) as follows: 

‘As the Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 2002 created the public office of the “Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland’ and also created the “Public Prosecution Service” for Northern Ireland, you are required to “confirm or deny” if there is another public office of “The Director of the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland” that exists and was expressly and specifically created by statutory legislation’.

The Northern Ireland Assembly Commission (Assembly Commission) has considered your request.

Under section 1(1) of the FOIA, a person making a request for information to a public authority is entitled to be informed in writing by that authority whether it holds information of the description specified in the request. ‘Information’ is defined at section 1(4) as ‘information… held at the time when the request is received’.  

The Assembly Commission does not hold information about whether ‘there is a public office of “The Director of the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland” that exists and was expressly and specifically created by statutory legislation’.

If you require advice on the interpretation of the Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 2002, a solicitor may be able to assist you.  

You have the right to request an internal review of this decision by the Assembly Commission.  If you wish to request such a review, please write to me at the above address.  If, after that review, you are dissatisfied with the way in which the Assembly Commission has handled your request for information, you may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Your request for information and our response may be published in the disclosure log maintained by the Assembly Commission under a publication scheme agreed with the ICO. The request and our response will be anonymised.