Correspondence with the World Health Organisation (FOI)

Request

Please can you provide the following information:

A

All correspondence and documentation between the WHO / UK government and our ministers regarding Covid-19?

B

Please confirm if any funding has been distributed to our Island from the WHO and from the U.K. Government in the last year regarding COVID 19 or any other funding in 2020?

Response

A

Information is exempt under Article 41 (International Relations) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.

B

None.

Article applied

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;

(c) an international organization; or

(d) an international court.

(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;

(b) an international organization; or

(c) an international court.

(4) In this Article, information obtained from a State, organization or court is confidential while –

(a) the terms on which it was obtained require it to be held in confidence; or

(b) the circumstances in which it was obtained make it reasonable for the State, organization or court to expect that it will be so held.

(5) In this Article –

“international court” means an international court that is not an international organization and that was established –

(a) by a resolution of an international organization of which the United Kingdom is a member; or

(b) by an international agreement to which the United Kingdom was a party;

“international organization” means an international organization whose members include any two or more States, or any organ of such an organization;

“State” includes the government of a State and any organ of its government, and references to a State other than Jersey include references to a territory for whose external relations the United Kingdom is formally responsible.

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 individuals with whom the Government have liaised. However, having considered the public interest, the Scheduled Public Authority concluded that the public interest in disclosing this information 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.