The Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland has refused the Police Service of Northern Ireland leave to appeal a ruling that requires it to hand over legally privileged material to the Information Commissioner's Office. The decision, delivered on 18 March 2026, means the PSNI must comply with an information notice within 30 days and has been ordered to pay costs.

The case originated with a Freedom of Information request made on 22 May 2020, in which a complainant sought records from the PSNI relating to gold mining in Northern Ireland - specifically any record of discussions between gold mining companies about security costs. The PSNI provided most of the requested information to the Information Commissioner but withheld documents it said were protected by legal professional privilege.

The Information Commissioner issued an information notice on 22 June 2023, directing the PSNI to provide the withheld material. The Commissioner's position was that section 51 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives no basis for a public authority to refuse disclosure to the ICO solely on grounds of legal privilege. The PSNI challenged that decision before the First Tier Tribunal, which ruled against it in August 2024, and again before the Upper Tier Tribunal, which also rejected the PSNI's arguments in July 2025.

In refusing leave to appeal, the Court of Appeal - comprising Lord Chief Justice Keegan, Lord Justice Treacy and Justice Humphreys - found that the Information Commissioner must be able to see withheld material in order to assess whether a claim of legal professional privilege is properly made. The court held that legal professional privilege is a qualified exemption under the FOIA regime, not an absolute bar.

On the first ground of appeal, the court found that the structure of section 51 of FOIA is unambiguous. The use of the word 'or' between subsections 51(1)(a) and 51(1)(b) means an information notice issued under 51(1)(a) does not also need to satisfy the reasonable requirements condition in 51(1)(b). The court said that argument was unconvincing and refused leave on that basis.

On the second ground, the court rejected the argument that the power to require production of legally privileged information could not extend to section 50 proceedings by necessary implication. The court held that a Scottish case relied on by the PSNI - Scottish Legal Complaints Commission v Murray - was not applicable, and that the overall structure of FOIA did not support the PSNI's position.

The court noted that the case has now been running for approximately six years since the original information request. It also acknowledged a point raised during the hearing that, regardless of the appellate outcome, paragraph 12 of the original information notice meant the practical result was unlikely to change. The court declined to refuse leave on academic grounds but found no compelling legal or procedural reason to intervene. Costs were awarded against the PSNI.