What is a vexatious or repeated request?
The Freedom of Information Act also allows practices to refuse to fulfil a request for information in cases where it is deemed to be ‘vexatious’ or ‘repeated’. It is necessary to apply this exemption fairly and consistently as practices may need to defend their decisions. The term ‘vexatious’ is not clearly defined in the Act, however, guidance on the Scottish Information Commissioner’s website states: ‘This term could be used to describe requests that are clearly intended to disrupt the authority’s work, rather than genuine requests for information. It might also apply if you have already made the same request and had it rejected on appeal to the Commissioner, or if you have unreasonably failed to give the authority enough detail to identify the information you want. However, a public authority cannot decide that your request is vexatious simply because it finds you or your request irritating or a nuisance’.
The Freedom of Information Act also allows practices to refuse to fulfil a request for information in cases where it is deemed to be ‘vexatious’ or ‘repeated’. It is necessary to apply this exemption fairly and consistently as practices may need to defend their decisions. The term ‘vexatious’ is not clearly defined in the Act, but the Information Commissioner has published guidance on the Information Commissioner website, and in Awareness Guidance No. 22, on which the following is based. A request maybe vexatious if: – The applicant makes clear his or her intention is for the purpose of annoying the practice in retaliation/annoyance then this would be grounds for refusal. – The request does not have any serious purpose or value. If a patient was making a complaint about a doctor’s treatment, and asked for information regarding similar complaints, this could be a valid request. If said patient sought information regarding every complaint levied at the practice, including other doctors,
