Discrimination

The request was successful.

Adrian McErlean

Dear Executive Office (Northern Ireland),

Under The Human Rights Act 1998 how can you discriminate against us the people who refuse a vaccine?

Do you plan to renew the the human rights act to allow discrimination against us the people?

If human rights are a real thing how can the government remove them whenever they feel like it?

Yours faithfully,

Adrian McErlean

TEO FOI, Executive Office (Northern Ireland)

6 Attachments

Mr McErlean

My previous response to you on 3 March 2021 refers (attached).

In that response under section 16 of the FOI Act (duty to provide advice and assistance) I provided you with detailed assistance on “How to access information from a public body” which included advice on how you should word a request to get the best result.

I would urge you to read the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) guidance I provided as your request below is again not considered as falling within the remit of FOI legislation, as you are seeking an explanation/opinion, not recorded information. As previously advised the FOIA only provides a right to recorded information held by a public authority.

Including this request, TEO has recently responded to you with regard to a number of FOI requests, most of which are seeking an opinion/explanation and have been considered as not falling within the remit of FOI Act as no recorded opinion or explanation is held.

Therefore, going forward I would advise you to carefully consider the advice given above (and previously) before submitting any further FOI requests to the Executive Office (TEO) or any other public authority. Future requests are less likely to be refused if framed in accordance with ICO guidelines. You should also carefully consider the most appropriate public authority to approach when seeking recorded information.

From your previous requests you appear to be most interested in information pertaining to the Covid-19 pandemic health response.

By way of a reminder of previous advice and assistance provided to you, please note that within the Northern Ireland Executive, the Department of Health (DoH) has responsibility for Health and Social Care, Public Health and Public Safety. DoH (not TEO) takes the lead in responding to the COVID-19 health pandemic and therefore it is unlikely that TEO will hold recorded information. DoH is more likely to hold recorded information relating to the COVID-19 pandemic response. For ease of reference, please find below the relevant email address should you wish to pursue any further Covid-19 health-related requests for information.

[email address]

Please be advised that any further similar requests made to TEO that are seeking an explanation/opinion, as opposed to seeking recorded information, will again likely be considered as not falling within the remit of the FOI Act.

I hope the advice above is of assistance to you in understanding the provisions governing your right to information under FOI legislation.

Regards

Nicola

Nicola Finlay
The Executive Office| Freedom of Information| Information Management and Central Advisory Branch

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