Members of 5 Essex Chambers continue to appear in important appellate and tribunal litigation concerning the disclosure of police misconduct material under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Most recently, Aaron Moss acted for the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police in Gabriel Kanter-Webber v Information Commissioner & Anor [2026] UKFTT 700 (GRC). The appeal concerned requests for the full misconduct bundle and transcript/audio recording arising from a public GMP misconduct hearing following an IOPC investigation. The Tribunal dismissed the appeal and upheld GMP’s reliance on section 31 FOIA, accepting that disclosure would be likely to prejudice the effective operation of future police misconduct investigations and disciplinary processes.
The decision is part of a growing body of authority addressing the tension between transparency in public misconduct hearings and the operational integrity of police professional standards processes. The Tribunal accepted that, although hearings may take place in public, that does not mean underlying evidential material or verbatim records automatically become disclosable under FOIA. In particular, it recognised the potential chilling effect on future witnesses and participants in misconduct investigations.
The case follows the Upper Tribunal’s important judgment in Kanter-Webber v Information Commissioner & Chief Constable of Hampshire Constabulary [2025] UKUT 171 (AAC), in which John Goss appeared for Hampshire Constabulary. Although the Upper Tribunal rejected reliance on the section 32 FOIA exemption in that appeal, it remitted the matter for consideration of the alternative exemptions relied upon by the force, including section 31.
The developing line of authority has since continued in further tribunal litigation involving requests for police misconduct material, including Rabbi Gabriel Kanter-Webber v Information Commissioner & Metropolitan Police Service [2026] UKFTT 680 (GRC), in which John Goss appeared for the Metropolitan Police Service. In that case, the appeal was dismissed on the basis of section 40 FOIA, the absolute exemption relating to personal data. The Tribunal held that disclosure under FOIA was not reasonably necessary to achieve the legitimate aim of transparency. The decision significantly reduces the weight of the earlier First-tier Tribunal decision in Kanter-Webber v Information Commissioner & Cambridgeshire Constabulary.
Together, these cases are likely to be of continuing significance to police forces, PSD teams and those advising on misconduct, disclosure, operational policing and reputational risk. They demonstrate the increasing sophistication of FOIA litigation concerning misconduct proceedings, and the importance of careful strategic handling of disclosure issues at every stage.
Aaron Moss and John Goss are both regularly instructed by police forces and other public authorities in complex and sensitive matters involving police law, information law, misconduct proceedings and public law challenges.
