Bilateral investment treaty with UAE (FOI)

Request 

I kindly ask you to send me a copy of the bilateral investment treaty that was signed between the Government of Jersey and the Government of the United Arab Emirates - please see here:  Jersey and UAE sign historic treaty

Response

It is intended to present the Bilateral Agreement for the Promotion and Protection of Investments between the Government of Jersey and the Government of the United Arab Emirates as an annex to a report to the States Assembly within the next 12 weeks therefore Article 36 (Information intended for future publication) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied. It will then be available publicly on the States Assembly website.

A process is in place for international agreements negotiated by the Government of Jersey, whereby the text of the agreement remains confidential until it is either deposited with the States Greffe or presented to the States Assembly through a formal Report procedure.

It is considered that to provide the requested information now prior to publication would likely prejudice the Government's position internationally therefore Article 41(2) (International Relations) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law has been applied.

Articles applied

Article 36 - Information intended for future publication

Information is qualified exempt information if, at the time when the request for the information is made, the information is being held by a public authority with a view to its being published within 12 weeks of the date of the request.

A scheduled public authority that refuses an application for information on this ground must make reasonable efforts to inform the applicant –

(a)     of the date when the information will be published;

(b)     of the manner in which it will be published; and

(c)     by whom it will be published.

Article 41 – International Relations

(1)     Information is qualified exempt information if its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice relations between Jersey and –

(a)     the United Kingdom;

(b)     a State other than Jersey;

(2)     Information is qualified exempt information if its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice –

(a)     any Jersey interests abroad; or

(b)     the promotion or protection by Jersey of any such interest.

(3)     Information is also qualified exempt information if it is confidential information obtained from –

(a)     a State other than Jersey;

Public Interest Test

The public interest in respect of Article 41 is weighted in favour of maintaining the exemption unless equally strong countervailing public interest arguments favour the disclosure of the information. It is recognised that there is a public interest in providing transparency about the island's network of international agreements. However, having considered the public interest, the Scheduled Public Authority concluded that the public interest in disclosing this information at this time is outweighed by the public interest considerations in withholding the information, in support of the Island's interests and to avoid any potential prejudice to the Island's relationship with the United Kingdom and other jurisdictions.