Freedom of Information – Page 2

Drone Wars UK refused permission for full hearing on drones FoI request before Upper Tribunal

18/08/2014Chris Cole

“The legality of the use of armed drones is one of the most important and pressing issues in modern international relations and public international law.” Judge Nicolas Wikeley

Very disappointingly we have been refused permission for a full hearing before the Upper Tribunal of our appeal to overturn the refusal of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to answer our FoI requests on the use of armed drones in Afghanistan. (Full decision here – pdf).

As regular readers will know in 2012 we requested information about the location of UK drone strikes in Afghanistan by province and the breakdown of strikes undertaken under daily tasking orders (i.e. pre-planned) and those launched under dynamic targeting procedures (i.e. ‘on the fly’). This information was refused by the MoD and we have been appealing the decision since. Read more →

UK Drone FoI appeal set to reach Upper Tribunal

02/07/2014Chris Cole

Later this month Drone Wars appeal against the MoD’s refusal to answer two FoI requests about the use of UK drones in Afghanistan reaches the Upper Tribunal, the highest level of the FoI process in the UK. The first hearing, which will take place on July 21, is to hear oral arguments on whether the appeal should be allowed to proceed.

The appeal concerns two requests for information submitted in January and May 2012 in which we ask (in summary) Read more →

Drone campaigners vow to pursue transparency despite losing Information Tribunal

30/10/2013Chris Cole

Press Statement

Anti-drone campaigners vowed to continue fighting for greater transparency on the use of armed drones despite losing an appeal against the Ministry of Defence’s refusal to share more information about the UK’s use of armed drones in Afghanistan.

Last week at the UN General Assembly two UN Special Rapporteurs urged the three countries that are currently using armed drones – the US, Israel and the UK – to be much more transparent about their use. In sharp contrast the Information Tribunal has agreed the MoD can withhold basic details about UK drone strikes in Afghanistan. Read more →

Information Tribunal – Day Two brief update

25/09/2013Chris Cole

L-R, Caroline Parkes, (Drones APPG) Chris Cole and Mary Dobbing (Drone Wars UK) and Sam Jacobs (Doughty Street Chambers)

The second day of our Information Tribunal focused on the legal submissions by ourselves represented by Sam Jacobs, the Ministry of Defence represented by Charles Bourne, and the Information Commissioner represented by Robin Hopkins. This is just a brief update – we will obviously say more when the Tribunal’s decision is released – hopefully within two weeks.

The Information Commission had previously upheld the MoD’s refusal to disclose the information that we requested under the Section 26 exception of the Freedom of Information Act (‘prejudice to the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces’) and Section 27 (‘prejudice to relations with another State’). In this Tribunal we are seeking to overturn Read more →

Information Tribunal – Day One brief update

23/09/2013Chris Cole

Just a brief update from the first day of our Information Tribunal. Although we were excluded for almost a third of the day while the Tribunal went into ‘closed’ session, it was very illuminating to hear directly from a UK Reaper pilot speaking about British Reaper operations in Afghanistan. [We have been asked not to publish his name]. Read more →

Drone Wars UK to challenge UK drone secrecy in court

16/09/2013Chris Cole

A two-day Information Tribunal will take place in central London on 23 and 24 September examining the refusal of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to provide Drone Wars UK Co-ordinator, Chris Cole, with information about the UK’s use of Reaper drones in Afghanistan.

A UK Reaper drone operator with “approximately 1,000 hours of Reaper experience supporting UK and Coalition activities in Afghanistan” will give evidence on behalf of the Ministry of Defence. Chris Cole is also being called to give evidence and Tom Watson MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Drones has also submitted a Witness Statement to the Tribunal. Read more →