Please disclose legal advice given to DPP that he must oppose Chambers v DPP

The request was partially successful.

Dear Crown Prosecution Service,

Today the Crown Prosecution Service have released on their blog a statement clarifying the role of the Director of Public Prosecutions in continuing to oppose the appeal of Chambers v Director of Public Prosecutions right up to the final hearing before the Lord Chief Justice.

In the second version of this blog post you state what follows:

"Clarification on decision making in Paul Chambers case:
The DPP was not the reviewing lawyer in the case of Paul Chambers, but in June he did instruct the team managing it to consider conceding the appeal. This was considered and progressed, however, at a later stage the DPP was advised that, as a matter of law, conceding the appeal would not be possible. This is because it was not possible because the key finding of fact in the case was a finding of the Crown Court, which only the High Court could overturn. The DPP accepted that advice and reluctantly agreed that the appeal had to proceed."
http://blog.cps.gov.uk/2012/07/clarifica...

Please disclose this advice in the public interest, as in mentioning this you have waived any privilege. Also please disclose in as much detail as possible the public interest arguments that have been considered at any stage of this prosecution, including and especially during the public interest stage of your Full Code Test.

Thank you. I await your response within 20 working days.

Yours faithfully,
Matt Flaherty

Freedom of Information Unit, Crown Prosecution Service

Dear Mr Flaherty,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 REQUEST

I acknowledge receipt of your request for information.

Your request was received on 30th July 2012 and I am dealing with it under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Please note there is a twenty working day limit (from receipt of request) in which we are required to respond to requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The deadline for your request is 28th August 2012 however we will endeavour to respond sooner.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, I will let you know the likely charges before proceeding.

Yours sincerely,

Miss H Hardaker

Information Management Unit
Tel: 020 3357 0899
Fax: 020 3357 0229
E-mail: [CPS request email]

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Dear Freedom of Information Unit,

Please be aware that according to your acknowledgement, the deadline for response has passed. I would consider a response received today to be in compliance with the Freedom of Information Act.

Yours sincerely,
Matt Flaherty

Freedom of Information Unit, Crown Prosecution Service

Dear Mr Flaherty,

Unfortunately it is not going to be possible for the CPS to provide a response today. We are still making enquiries regarding this matter and hope to provide a response by Tuesday 18th September 2012.

Yours sincerely,

Information Management Unit
Tel: 020 3357 0899
Fax: 020 3357 0229
E-Mail: [email address]

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Dear Freedom of Information Unit,

Thank you for the update.

Yours sincerely,
Matt Flaherty

Freedom of Information Unit, Crown Prosecution Service

3 Attachments

Please find attached our response to your request for information under
FOIA.

 

 

 

 

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