Correspondence with Lord Advocate regarding the Supreme Court: FOI release
Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
Information requested
1) Any correspondence, including meetings, notes, memos, agendas, ministerial briefings and minutes, between the Scottish Government and the office of the Lord Advocate on the topic of the Lord Advocate's reference to the Supreme Court between January 1, 2022 and June 28, 2022. This should include any emails, letters, WhatsApp or Signal messages, OneNote memos or texts between officials, special advisers, ministers, ministerial private offices, and civil servants.
2) Any attachments to this internal correspondence.
Response
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance, exemptions under Section 36(1) (confidentiality in legal proceedings), section 30(b)(i) (the free and frank provision of advice), section 30(b)(ii) (the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation), and section 38(1)(b) (data of a third party) of FOISA applies to most of the information requested. The reasons why these exemptions apply is explained in Annex A of this letter.
Some of the information you have requested is available from the Scottish Government website and the Scottish Parliament website. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. However, in the interests of being helpful, we have provided links to the relevant material below:
Next steps in independence referendum set out - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
Letter from the First Minister to the Prime Minister on Independence Referendum - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
Meeting of the Parliament: 28/06/2022 | Scottish Parliament Website
Some of the information requested is provided at Annex B of this letter.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Contact
Please quote the FOI reference
Central Enquiry Unit
Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
The Scottish Government
St Andrews House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG
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